


Safest place to hide

by shippingisprobsmyjob007



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Consensual Smut, Drama & Romance, Fantasy, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun & Suh Youngho | Johnny Are Best Friends, M/M, Mark Lee x Haechan, Royal Alternate Universe, Royal NCT, Water Powers, Yuta x taeyong, abusive pasts, royal au, there will be smut, trigger warning : abusive parents, yutae
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:07:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 42,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27861258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shippingisprobsmyjob007/pseuds/shippingisprobsmyjob007
Summary: When Prince Johnny Suh makes promises he can't keep, the balance of the Kingdoms hangs in a thread. The battle between his duty and his heart might cost him his life but his life isn't worth living without his one and only by his side.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 28
Kudos: 64





	1. Chapter 1

The windows’ blinds were hastily opened, the Sun shining directly on Johnny’s face and illuminating the rest of the grand room. He groaned loudly and threw a pillow in the direction of the windows.

“Shut them off.”

“Your highness don’t be lazy, get off bed.” Johnny smiled. He slowly began to open his eyes.

“If you were an actual servant, you’d treat me with a little more respect.”

“But I  _ am  _ nothing more than your obedient servant, your highness.” The response made him laugh. He decided to close his eyes again, the brightness too much to deal with in the morning.

“Of course, your highness,” Johnny replied and earned a gasp in response.

“Sir, you make me blush like a maiden. You shouldn’t be using such honorable titles for a poor servant like myself.” 

“Shut up, Chittaphon,” Johnny laughed, extending his arm out his bed.

“See, now that is not very nice. I am a  _ prince _ . How can you so casually order _ me  _ to shut up? And use my name like that? Who do you think you are?” he came closer and grabbed Johnny’s hand. Eyes still closed, Johnny pulled the man who didn’t pull back as he fell on him. Johnny hugged him.

“So many questions, so early in the morning,” Johnny complained.

“The Sun has been up for two hours now.”

“So early,” Johnny repeated, bringing the other man’s head to his chest. “ _ Ten  _ seashells in my pockets.”

“You know, one day you  _ must  _ stop making fun of me,” Ten responded and Johnny just knew he was pouting. It was tempting enough for him to consider opening his eyes, but he fought against it. Ten spent most of his time pouting at him. 

“No,” Johnny responded. “I don’t think I will.”

“You’ll be King,” Ten replied. “You shouldn’t be making fun of others, especially, about things they did when they were actual children.”

“You sound like my father,” Johnny responded. “And I will never stop,” Johnny turned his head slightly to the side. He slowly caressed Ten’s back. He wished he could sleep for a bit longer. “When did you get here?”

“Just before sunrise,” Ten responded, pushing himself slightly. He first kissed Johnny’s cheek and then his neck. He laid there for a minute. 

“You traveled most of the night,” Johnny sounded concerned. Ten nodded. 

“Get up, I want to go for a ride,” Ten requested.

“As much as I would enjoy a ride this early in the morning, I am too tired and you just got here. Don’t you think it’s too intense a way to start the day?” He finally had his eyes open, and looked at Ten’s with a raised eyebrow.

“I just  _ know  _ you are speaking about  _ horse riding  _ Johnny,” Ten said exasperated. He pulled himself up and out of the bed. 

“Of course!” Johnny lied. “What else could I have been thinking of?”

“Please, let’s go. I haven’t been to the beach for a while. I had some of your people pack us food. Let’s go.” Ten pleaded. 

“Fine. I can never say no to you.” Johnny left the bed. Before heading to grab his clothes, he softly kissed Ten. He could feel the other getting impatient but it wasn’t as overwhelming as the feeling of adoration Ten felt then. 

They walked together, hand in hand, to the stables where they found their horses ready. Baskets hung up by the sides of Ten’s horse while Johnny’s carried a few blankets. Johnny helped Ten up his horse, though the other complained that he was perfectly fine mounting his own horse. After Johnny got up on his, they each gathered their reins. Johnny cued his horse first, getting into a comfortable jog while Ten followed. The guards opened the side gates for them and once out of the castle grounds, Johnny motioned his horse to go faster. He looked back at Ten who had no issue keeping up with him. He smiled and looked forward, the chilling wind unforgiving on his eyes which he could barely keep open. 

As it was usual for them, they rode towards a cliff first, twenty minutes away from the castle. They looked over the horizon, where the ocean met the sky. It would usually look seamless except that day the skies had turned grey and the ocean’s water was darker than usual. It was to be expected, being so close to winter. It was Ten’s favorite view, no matter the weather. Any time he came to visit Johnny he’d make sure there was time to go close to the ocean. He’d relish the breeze that would always mess up his hair, and would look longingly into the distance. He’d never notice that, a few years ago, Johnny stopped caring about looking at the ocean. He could do so any time he wanted. Instead, he’d spend the time staring at Ten, and how the wind played with his hair, and how he’d smile if he noticed a seagull flying by. He’d stare at how Ten’s delicate hands would loosen up their grip on his reins, his shoulders relaxing. Almost always, and today was not an exception, Ten would close his eyes. He liked to listen to the waves furiously crashing against the cliff. He took many deep breaths, and in that instant Johnny once again wondered if Ten was real at all. He couldn’t be. This world couldn’t be home of somebody who looked like him. 

“We can go now,” Ten announced. Johnny nodded and cued his horse to move, followed by Ten. There was a path wide enough to ride down the cliff into a small, sandy beach. The ocean’s restlessness concerned Johnny that they wouldn’t find a spot they could sit at and still be dry, but they did. He placed the thinnest blanket on the ground while Ten grabbed the baskets full of food. Johnny sat first, grabbing one of the thicker blankets and covering his back with it. He held his arms out so that Ten would sit between his legs. He covered him with the rest of the blanket and placed the third one on Ten’s lap. Ten grabbed a piece of bread and split it.

“The ocean is restless today,” Johnny stated the obvious. Ten’s warm back against his chest helped him forget it was almost winter and the breeze was colder than ever. 

“I like it,” Ten said. “It’s usually calm and composed. But something so grand and beautiful should be allowed to express its anger, if it feels like it.”

“What could the ocean be angry about?” Johnny asked. Ten laughed.

“Maybe not the ocean itself. Maybe it’s a reflection of the gods’ wrath.”

“Yes, that makes more sense,” Johnny agreed. He gave Ten’s head a kiss and rested his chin on it. “We met over there,” Johnny pointed at a spot completely covered by water.

“I know,” Ten said. “You point it out every time. You’re so sentimental about it.”

“And you are not?” Johnny questioned. He took a bite of his bread.

“Yeah. I guess I am,” Ten replied. He rested his head against Johnny’s chest and closed his eyes.

“When we get married, we should do so on the cliff.”

“When we get married?” Ten asked, turning to look at Johnny. The moves were so sudden the blankets fell off, and Johnny began to shake from the cold.

“Yes.  _ When, _ ” he said, grabbing one and covering himself with it. 

“You haven’t even proposed,” Ten replied. His eyes were wide in shock. “Our fathers do not even know about us. You aren’t even of age-” Johnny rolled his eyes with a smile. He grabbed Ten’s face and kissed him, interrupting his complaints “- to be speaking about marriage.” Ten finished his sentence, breathless.

“I  _ will  _ marry you,” Johnny whispered in Ten’s ear. “I promise you my forever if you want it.”

“You can take mine, too,” Ten responded, tears in his eyes. Johnny smiled.

“ _ Ten seashells in my pockets, _ ” Johnny sang hugging Ten who was so overwhelmed he couldn’t even protest.  _ “And now you’re mine.” _


	2. Chapter 2

_18 years prior…_

The scalding summer Sun was too bright on Johnny’s eyes but he knew where he was going, so he didn’t need to see clearly anyway. His sitter walked behind him, allowing him space for him to roll down the small green hills, the loud giggles helping her make sure he was alright if he couldn’t see him. 

“Hurry up!” Johnny shouted back, his tiny voice carried by the calm breeze. She wondered how could a child have such energy, he didn’t stop running forward, rolling down small mounds, laughing and shouting for her every few minutes. She looked at him fondly, she hoped nothing could take that smile off his face not even when he became king in the future. 

“Your Highness-” she shouted, beginning to jog “-you are so fast!”

“I am!” Johnny shouted back. This went on for a while when, finally, they could hear the waves crashing. Johnny gasped loudly as he ran for the cliff next to the road down to the beach. He stood there, letting the breeze cool him off while he knelt to look at the waves crashing. His sitter stood by him, making sure he wouldn’t overdo it.

“Are you ready?” she asked. He nodded enthusiastically and grabbed her hand as he followed her to the path down the hill. When they made it to the small beach they noticed it was already occupied. A man knelt next to a child who looked around Johnny’s age, he pointed at the horizon while the boy looked, nodding his head every so often. Johnny began to help his sitter lay down the basket and took a sip of water before curiosity got the best of him. 

“I’m saying hi, Arlene,” Johnny announced and, not that she would’ve kept him from doing so, but she stood there in utter confusion as he ran away. As he got closer to them, Johnny could hear the other boy asking questions about the sea to the man. “Hello,” Johnny said, startling the pair who thought they had been alone. Johnny noticed the boy holding some seashells. “I’m Johnny!”

“Hello, Johnny,” the man responded, a gentle smile giving Johnny permission to get closer. “My name is Tanawat and this is my son, Chittaphon.”

“Hi,” the boy said shyly. Johnny smiled.

“You are a King!” Johnny said, recognizing King Tanawat’s name from conversations he overheard around his castle.

“And you are a Prince,” Tanawat responded with a laugh. 

“I am,” Johnny said. He looked over at Chittaphon who suddenly felt more comfortable to get closer. It was something about Johnny that could attract anyone to him. “What’s that?” Johnny pointed at the seashells the boy clearly was struggling to hold onto. 

“Ten seashells,” the boy replied. Johnny gasped in awe.

“Do you want more? I bet we could find more,” Johnny started to look around his feet.

“No,” Chittaphon said. “I only want ten.”“Why?” Johnny asked. “You could have as many as you want.”

“Ten is my favorite number,” the boy replied. “I have ten friends back at home. I have ten favorite meals. I have ten horses but I share them with others because I can’t really ride ten horses all the time. I have ten lessons every day. And I like to have ten seashells.”

“Why don’t you put them in your pockets?” Johnny asked, taking a look at the boy’s pants. The boy smiled.

“I don’t know,” he admitted as he began to place the seashells away. “There,” he said when he was done, “ten seashells in my pockets.”

“Will I be able to be your friend?” Johnny asked. “You already have ten, and I’d make it eleven. But I want to be your friend anyway.”

Chittaphon looked at him in deep thought. He nodded. “I think you can be my best friend. I don’t have any of those yet. You can be the first.” Johnny smiled.

“I think that is perfect,” Johnny said. “How are you liking the sea?”

“I wish I could stay close to the water all the time,” Chittaphon confessed. “I feel good when I am close to it.”

“Maybe you should visit a lot. I’ll bring you to the water every time.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.” 

“Promises made by the water,” King Tanawat said as he knelt between the two boys, “can never be broken. You could anger the gods if you break them.”

“I won’t break my promise,” Johnny said excitedly. “Do you guys want some fruit?” he asked pointing back at Arlene who sat by a basket full of fruit and water. Both Chittaphon and his father accepted the invitation and walked with him. “I think I will call you Ten, from now on,” Johnny announced. “Best friends name each other.”

“I’d love it if you called me that! I don’t know what to call you yet,” Ten sounded down.

“You’ll figure it out,” Johnny said. Ten smiled.

“I will find a special name for you…”

_Present time_

“Love,” Ten mumbled on Johnny’s ear, “your form is all wrong.”

“No it’s not,” Johnny’s breath hitched.

“Yes it is,” Ten said. Johnny sighed loudly. He took his bow and arrow down and held them to Ten. 

“Go on, teach me,” Johnny said a bit annoyed. Ten shrugged with a smile, grabbed the bow and arrow and shot at the target. Bullseye.

“You tense your shoulders too much,” Ten explained as he gave the bow back to him. “And your grip on it is too tight. You might break it before you even get a chance to shoot.”

“Fine,” Johnny replied as he grabbed another arrow.

“Drop the attitude, love, I’m trying to be nice here,” Ten pouted. Johnny took a deep breath before shooting the arrow. Barely made it next to Ten’s.

“I’m sorry,” Johnny dropped the bow, taking hold of Ten’s hands instead. “My father has been struggling to keep peace up north. And he keeps getting threats from this small kingdom off our coast. I don’t understand why he is so worked up about it. I don’t think they could damage us much.”

“You shouldn’t underestimate any kingdom who threatens your own,” Ten said. Johnny chuckled as he kissed Ten’s knuckles.

“You will make an amazing king,” Johnny looked into Ten’s eyes. 

“Please don’t look at me like that,” Ten blushed.

“How is that?” Johnny smiled. 

“Like I’ll have to wear _extremely_ covering clothing to come back home. Remember the part where my home is humid and hot?”

“See now you’re giving me ideas. I was just looking at my man with feelings of pride and joy,” Johnny protested.

“Sure,” Ten rolled his eyes. “I believe you.”

“Why do I feel like you don’t?” Johnny asked as he began to softly pull Ten to follow him.

“Because _I don’t,_ ” Ten replied. 

“You hurt me,” Johnny states as they begin to ascend towards one of the side doors of the castle. He smiled at Ten who began laughing as they walked into the palace, They ran through hallways and up stairs until they found themselves at Johnny’s door. Johnny pulled Ten inside. He pushed Ten against the door and began to kiss and bite his neck, Ten’s hands scratching the doors as he leaned his forehead against the dark, heavy doors. Johnny locked the doors leaving the key in so that nobody could try and unlock it from the other side. He let his hands roam all over Ten’s chest as he pressed himself against Ten. “Did you even bring covering clothes?” Ten huffed, turning around to face Johnny.

“Of course I did, you think a man won’t ever be prepared?” 

“Ah, ah, ah,” Johnny grabbed Ten’s chin with his thumb and index finger, slightly turning Ten’s face away so that he could take a look at his work on Ten’s neck. “Now who’s got an attitude?” he began to kiss every bite he left as he began to undo Ten’s shirt. His warm mouth and the chill of the room hitting Ten’s skin all at once earned him a muffled moan and Johnny smiled. “My bed is much warmer.” he grabbed Ten, kissing his mouth as he walked him to his bed, softly laying him down before he continued his work, marking almost all of Ten’s and then some more until it was impossible to find where one of them ended and the other started… 

The Sun was down when the pair laid down in bliss, holding each other’s tired and bruised bodies close to each other under black silk covers. Johnny slowly caressed Ten’s back, feeling just a bit sorry that he’d find a few bloody scratches that he hoped wouldn’t scar too badly. Ten nuzzled his head on the crook of his neck, drifting away in peaceful sleep. Johnny closed his eyes, feeling like there was no reason to dream when everything he could’ve ever wanted was right there when he was awake. Ten’s breathing calmed Johnny and helped him drift away in his own sleep, planning how he’d finally tell his father once Ten had left the next day, and how he’d probably step down his duties as heir to allow for his younger brother to take over. Ten was an only son, he needed to become king, and Johnny relished in the feeling he’d be his consort, and it’d bring their kingdoms even closer together. 

He couldn’t find a flaw in his plans. So the next day when he kissed Ten goodbye and saw his carriage leave the palace, Johnny made it back inside to take his life into his own hands.


	3. Chapter 3

“Is that what a fool in love looks like?” Johnny laughs. 

“You act like it won’t be you someday,” Johnny responds, earning a laugh from his younger brother who shrugged.

“Hopefully not. You look like I could fight you and win.”

“We should try,” Johnny teased. “See if little Mark can finally beat me in hand to hand combat. Highly unlikely.”

“What are you so happy about anyway?” Mark asked. “Spare me the details though, I can still remember the last time you went too far. I can’t look at Prince Chittaphon in the eyes. I can barely look at you.”

“Baby brother, again, you act like it won’t be you someday,” Johnny sighed, dropping his arm on Mark’s shoulders. “But if you must know, we should probably go get some tea at the gardens and talk. I actually have some things to ask from you. Are you busy?”

“No,” Mark replied. “I have a few hours before Lee Donghyuck gets here.”

“I see,” Johnny said with a smile. Mark was then walking besides him looking at the paintings on the walls, paintings they both knew by heart. It wouldn’t be long before it was Mark’s turn to blush at the mention of a name, or would have to find excuses as to why he’s wearing extra pieces of clothing on certain days that make no sense, or would be spending hours writing carefully crafted letters to be sent daily. Johnny knew better than to tease Mark in the case of Lee Donghyuck, especially before asking something of him. But Johnny knew his brother and his denial of Donghyuck’s advances came from a place of caution rather than not wanting him. Mark was infatuated. Johnny just wondered how he could help poor Lee Donghyuck who was running out of ideas on how to court Mark at that point. 

They stopped at the main door where Johnny requested one of the butlers to make sure they’d get tea and pastries delivered to the gardens whenever possible. They walked out, the breeze making both of them shiver. The Sun was shining brightly but it definitely was not warming much. Johnny grabbed a few flowers on his way to their spot in the gardens: a gazebo with a round table and two white seats. Flowers grew on the arch, grand bushes around the place. It was peaceful and, most importantly, private. 

“I hate this time of year,” Mark started as he looked around. “These pretty flowers will be gone soon.”

“But they will come back,” Johnny said sitting down. “And they become even more beautiful each passing year.”

“I know,” Mark sighed. “I just wish they could stay around at all times.”

“What are you planning on doing with Donghyuck?” Johnny asked, genuinely curious. Mark sensed his brother had no intentions of teasing him at all, so he responded truthfully.

“We will probably go for a few horse rides. Maybe do some archery. And if it warms up enough we might go swim at the beach. He wrote to me a few days ago telling me that he had learned many new stories. So I’m guessing he’ll be telling me those too.”

“He always has really good stories,” Johnny smiled. “That sounds like a great time. Do you know how long they’re staying?”

“Just for a couple of days, according to father,” Mark replied. “He has barely left his courtroom. Meetings at all times. So many briefings. Do you really think he should be so concerned over these threats?”

“We shouldn’t underestimate any kingdom that threatens our own,” Johnny replied. He felt a deep warmth within his chest, already thinking of writing a letter to Ten. He missed him. He couldn’t wait until the day came where they wouldn’t have to separate like this again.

“You did not come up with that on your own,” Mark laughed. “Prince Chittaphon?” Johnny nodded, blushing. “He’s going to make an amazing king one day.”

“I agree,” Johnny said. He looked over at Mark and was about to speak when he noticed a cart rolling to them out the corner of his eye. He turned around, a wide smile on his face. “I can always count on my dearest Arlene.”

“Your highnesses,” Arlened saluted. Her long grey hair was freely resting on her shoulders, her smile bright as ever. 

“You shouldn’t have,” Johnny said as he stood to help her bring the tray to the table. 

“Stop acting like I am ancient,” Arlene responded. Mark laughed.

“He just worries about you,” Mark said. Arlene chuckled.

“I know. But that’s not his job. It’s _my_ job to worry about him.”

“Do I give you reasons to worry?” Johnny asked, grabbing the flowers on the table and handing them to Arlene. He then gave her a tender kiss on a cheek and she took the opportunity to ruffle his hair. 

“No,” she responded as he sat back down. “I don’t worry about you at all.” Johnny felt a sudden wave of nostalgia as Arlene began to speak with Mark. The years had adorned her face with wrinkles that could not hide the expressions of adoration she always had for him. She had spent her whole life devoted to raising and serving him and when she was given the opportunity to retire but, as it was Arlene’s way, she declined the offer. _I’ll be at Johnny’s side until my body gives up_ , was her response. “I have something else for you,” Arlene said as she grabbed an envelope from the cart. “I guess his royal Highness, Prince Chittaphon made it home safely.” She smiled at how quickly Johnny grabbed the letter from her hand.

“Thank you,” Johnny said, grabbing her hands and giving each a kiss. “What are your plans for the day?”

“Knitting,” Arlene responded as she began to walk away, “it’s getting cold.”

As she walked away, Johnny began to read his letter. He smiled so hard it almost hurt, but Ten had made it home safely and had been resting. Mark cleared his throat. 

“Mark,” Johnny said, folding the letter and putting it away in a pocket. “Ten is my person.”

“I know,” Mark took a sip from his tea.

“I wish to marry him one day,” Johnny continued.

“I know,” Mark said, grabbing a piece of a scone.

“Lee Donghyuck likes you,” Johnny said rolling his eyes. Mark choked. “Can I talk?” Johnny asked. Mark scrunched his nose and nodded, drying the tears in his eyes after his coughing fit. “Ten is my person. And I wish to marry him, soon. I will be speaking to father about it. I wish to be his consort. He has no siblings and he’d be a great king. He must reign. I have you…” Mark’s eyes widened, “our kingdom has you.”

“You must love him, so much,” Mark said. Johnny nodded. “I have your back,” Mark said finally. “But will you promise me something?”

“Anything,” Johnny responded.

“You will come to me if anything ever went wrong. I know he won’t hurt you. But I still want to make sure that you know I’m here for you.”

“You have my word.”

“And another thing?” Mark took another sip of tea. “I know I already made you promise last time but I have a bad feeling right now. So please… do not _ever_ go into detail about what happens in your chambers. Never.”

“It doesn’t only happen in my chambers, you know,” Johnny started but Mark screeched.

“I don’t want to know any of it!” Johnny laughed loudly, grabbing a bite of a sweet bread roll, while Mark cursed him red faced. They spent a few hours talking in the gardens, until one of Mark’s servants came to inform him Lee Donghyuck and his father had made it to the castle and that he was requesting to see Mark. 

“Have fun!” Johnny wished, this time definitely teasing his little brother. Mark stuck his tongue at him and left, increasing his speed every few steps. “It will be you someday,” Johnny whispered as he placed the tea set on the tray and grabbed it all before walking to the castle. As he got closer to one of the side doors, one of the younger servants offered to take the tray from him. He smiled at her and thanked her as she walked away. He recognized her as the daughter of Mark’s main servant. He couldn’t believe she was grown up enough she could work already. He suddenly felt a bit of sadness and shame that the girl, who was raised around the castle, could only strive for a life in servitude. He made a mental note to check on her later. 

He made his way to the main courtroom. The doors were closed and five soldiers stood by. When he tried to open the door he was blocked. 

“I’m sorry, your Highness. Your Father has requested that nobody goes in.”

“Not even his heir?” Johnny asked, a little annoyed at his father.

“I promise we asked,” the guard responded. “No exceptions. Not even you.” Johnny rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“Sorry, that was unbecoming of me. I’m frustrated with him, that's all. You have done nothing wrong.”

“No worries, your Highness.”

“If he ever lets you speak to him,” Johnny sighed. “Can you tell him that I must speak to him immediately?”

“I will,” the guard replied. Johnny thanked him and walked towards his chambers where he went to his desk by the window. 

Under the small desk was a box decorated with seashells. The key hung in a necklace on Johnny’s neck. He unlocked it and placed Ten’s latest letter in it, on top of hundreds of letters Ten had sent over the years. He then grabbed a quill and a piece of parchment and began to write.

_“My dearest Ten,_

_I am glad you made it back safely. I wanted to share that I am trying to speak to my father, although it seems it will be impossible at this time. With the threats against our kingdom taking most of his time, I haven’t been able to get a moment with him. He is obsessed with keeping us safe. I guess we’ll fully understand him one day. Lee Donghyuck and his father are here. And yes, Mark is still in complete denial. But I shared with him what I hope to achieve for our future and, as I expected, he is glad to support us. I think he’ll make a great king. He’ll also make a great husband to the Duke’s son, if he finally lets him in any time soon. But sometimes I forget he is a kid still. Maybe I’m pushing him too much. His heart will open at the right time. I’m not worried._

_I am also glad you are taking much needed rest. I might have gone overboard our last night together. It is becoming extremely difficult to not feel like every time we must part our ways it will be our last time. I know it sounds idiotic, but I cannot shake the dread from my heart every time. So I hope you are not against a few marks that will prove I was once yours and you were once mine._

_I love you,_

_-Johnny”_


	4. Chapter 4

Johnny was bored. No book in their library interested him. His horse needed to rest after he took him out twice in the same morning. Archery was boring. No knight wanted to practice sword fighting with him. He had already written a letter to Ten. Around noon it began to rain heavily. He couldn’t even nap to the sound of the rain against the windows. He was frustrated. A few hours into the afternoon he decided it was time to find his friend. He couldn’t believe he had managed to hide from him all day long. And, as he hoped, he found him in the kitchen grabbing a bread roll.

“I suppose you won’t say no if I ask you to hang out with me,” Johnny said, grabbing a roll for himself.

“I suppose.”

“How come I haven’t seen my best friend in five days?”

“I was sent to gather intelligence from the north, remember?”

“Anything good?” Johnny took a bite of his roll.

“Not a single thing.”

Johnny hummed. He finished his roll and looked around at the rest of the pastries. He saw a slice of strawberry cake and grabbed it. “I’m getting married,” Johnny grinned.

“So you’ve been saying… since you were sixteen. Did you finally tell your father?”

“No,” Johnny admitted. “You’ll take care of Mark when I’m gone, right?”

“Of course,” Jaehyun huffed, his mouth full of bread. Johnny laughed.

“Please tell me you’ll help me practice my sword fighting. If my father is so terrified we’ll have a war any time soon, I should be able to fight well.”

“We can,” Jaehyun smiled. For all of Johnny’s natural talents, sword fighting was not one of them. He was decent. But not _ “going to war and not getting himself killed” _ good. “How’s Prince Chittaphon?”

“He’s great,” Johnny looked at the ceiling. “Do you think we’ll go to war?”

“I’m not sure. From what I’ve heard, your father is a bit paranoid. It doesn’t help that the isles aren’t happy with your father and want out.”

“Can’t blame them,” Johnny admitted. “I hope, if they haven’t freed themselves from us yet, that Mark can figure that out when it’s his time.”

“I feel like your brother might come up with something that benefits everyone,” Jaehyun began to walk. Johnny followed him, grabbing a final roll. “He’s good at that.”

“It also helps him that he has Lee Donghyuck around. The kid is a genius. He truly inherited his father’s intelligence,” Johnny mentioned proudly. 

“And his mother’s beauty and charisma,” Jaehyun agreed. “And somehow…”

“He wants my brother who will act a fool denying his feelings,” Johnny sighed. He suddenly stopped walking. “There will always be time for practice. But Lee Donghyuck isn’t here all the time.”

“Johnny-” 

“Hey, if my brother is right and he doesn’t have any feelings other than friendship for him, he wouldn’t mind if we joined them, right?”

“But your brother  _ does  _ have feelings other than friendship for him,” Jaehyun tried to reason but Johnny had already grabbed his arm and was pulling him to walk faster.

“And I am not leaving my brother to be an heir before he admits this.”

They found them at the library. Books were scattered around as they chatted. Johnny stopped for a moment to relish in the image: they sat on the floor by the fireplace, the windows covered by blinds. Johnny then remembered something about Donghyuck’s fear of thunderstorms. Mark was laughing at something Donghyuck had said, his hands clapping as he rolled on the floor. It was then Johnny saw Donghyuck’s face soften, a soft smile on his lips, the fire illuminating his face as he hugged his knees while he looked at Mark. He looked ethereal and very much in love. Johnny decided against his original plan but when Mark stopped laughing on the floor, he saw him and Jaehyun awkwardly standing at the door.

“Hey guys,” Mark said awkwardly, quickly sitting. Donghyuck snorted. He stood up and curtsied Johnny.

“Your Highness,” he said quickly before he sat down back in his spot. Johnny and Jaehyun approached, huge smiles on their faces. Johnny looked over at Mark who was trying to seem interested in a random book he grabbed from the pile while he tried to control the red creeping on his cheeks and ears.

“What are you guys up to?” Johnny asked.

“Not much, I was telling Mark I have a new legend to tell him. Would you guys want to listen?” Donghyuck asked excitedly. Johnny and Jaehyun nodded, both taking a spot on the floor, making Mark have no other option than to move closer to where Donghyuck was sitting.    
“Okay. So this one is fun because it’s about the gods of the elements. The legend says that there are four gods of the elements: the god of fire, who controls flames, heat, and even the Sun itself; the god of earth, who controls nature and the earth beneath us; the god of air, who controls the winds and the air we breathe; and the god of water, who controls the oceans and rivers, the weather, and thunder. I know we know them all but legend has it that, every so often, they will pick a human child that they will bless with their powers. It is rare that the human will present these powers in their pure form; they show more like a person being extremely lucky against the element, or find riches related to said element. A child blessed by the god of earth, for example, might be able to cultivate anything anywhere regardless of the conditions. A child blessed by the god of fire might be highly successful in war and so on and so forth. It is said that, once, a child blessed by the god of air was able to wield the purest form of his power, and was able to provide life to those who had lost it by filling up their lungs with air.” Donghyuck took a moment. Everyone looked at him expecting.

“The god of water has not found any human child worthy of his power. So legend has it that the day this god finds a child who he deems worthy, it will change the world as we know it. And only by finding wielders of the other powers can we subdue the damage this person could bring upon our world.”

“Now that is a depressing outcome,” Jaehyun complained. Everyone laughed.

“It’s a legend, Jaehyun. I doubt we’ll have to concern ourselves with that,” Johnny said in between giggles. 

“It’s not like we have actually found ourselves in this situation in our history as human beings, so there might be some missing pieces,” Donghyuck shrugged. 

“You always have such interesting stories, Haechan,” Mark mumbled and immediately cursed. Johnny and Jaehyun turned their heads to look at him so fast that Haechan was convinced they must’ve broken something. 

“What in the  _ hell  _ did you just call him?” Johnny asked smugly. 

“Nothing,” Mark blushed once again, rolling his hands into tight fists.

“I think you called him Haechan,” Jaehyun said casually. 

“That’s his name for me,” Haechan said with an innocent tone. But when Johnny looked at him he could see him biting his lips, trying not to laugh. 

“You have a name for him?” Johnny inquired. Mark refused to respond, letting out small whimpers and mumbles instead. Johnny tackled him and began to tickle him, earning the loudest screams and most aggressive curses his brother had ever let out.

“Let me go! I swear, Ten won’t have a husband at all if you don’t stop, I will end you!” Mark screamed as he tried to scramble away from Johnny.

“I think Ten will be fine and will have a great husband, now,  _ why  _ are you being so sheepish right now?”

“Leave me alone!” Mark laughed. Johnny stood up followed by Jaehyun. 

“Thank you, Donghyuck, for sharing your story with us,” Johnny smiled. Haechan nodded proudly. “As for you, baby brother,” he said as Mark sat, “I’ll leave you to it.”

“To what?” Mark asked, genuinely confused. Johnny and Jaehyun rolled their eyes and sighed in frustration as they walked away. “To what?” Mark screamed behind them as Haechan chuckled in disbelief. His heart really chose somebody  _ that  _ oblivious.

Johnny and Jaehyun went their separate ways when they realized the Sun was setting. Johnny had taken a bath and changed into his night clothes when he realized he had not eaten dinner. He decided to walk down to the kitchen again, hoping to find something that could hold him until the next day. He found it odd when voices came outside his brother’s room but Mark did tend to talk to himself a lot. Johnny smiled and kept walking. It was still raining. He couldn’t understand why, it didn’t seem like the time of year for so much rain to be falling. He worried about the town, how prepared would they be to such sudden unforgiving rain? He made a mental note he should probably visit his townsfolk the next day. After grabbing some leftover food from the kitchen, he quickly walked back upstairs, the chilly wind creeping into the castle walls making him shiver. He laid in his warm bed, covering himself up and falling asleep easily. 

He hoped he wouldn’t sleep on an empty bed for much longer


	5. Chapter 5

_ “My dearest Ten, _

_ Another day passes by and my father can’t find the time to meet with me. This is not the kind of thing you say in a note, so every passing minute I can’t speak to him annoys me to no end. The longer he puts off speaking to me the longer I have to put off properly planning things with you. It’s painful.  _

_ I know you might be burning with questions in regards to my brother. I am happy to inform you that I do have some sort of update: I took a walk through the halls this morning to help me wake up properly and noticed the Duke’s son sneaking out of my brother’s room. I don’t want to assume anything yet, especially because if I assume anything I would tease Mark to no end. But I think you and I can agree that it takes a special bond between two people to share a room for a night. In a palace. Full of rooms. I can’t help but be invested. It would make me feel better to know that when I leave him to be the heir he’ll have somebody to lean on as his consort. And I like Lee Donghyuck. He makes my brother smile. _

_ Wish upon me luck that I will be able to speak to my father soon. I hope by the time I write you another letter, I’ll have an actual update.  _

_ Yours, _

_ -Johnny.” _

Johnny sighed as he sealed the envelope. He was becoming used to frustration burning every inch of himself lately. No archery practices, or horse rides, no books or sword fighting could help him. At the very least, he thought, he should be part of the conversations regarding the threats. He was  _ still  _ the heir. He was laying down on a bench at the courtyard when he was approached by Arlene.

“Your highness,” she curtsied.

“Will you ever not do that?” Johnny asked with a smile. She shook her head.

“No, dear boy,” she smiled. 

“What’s going on?” he asked, immediately sitting. She handed him a letter.

“King Tanawat requests you present yourself to him as soon as possible,” she started. “I already started to prepare everything so that you can travel at midday.”

Johnny nodded. He could not believe he had been blessed to see Ten again so soon. Arlene knew and she patted his head. “My dear boy… I am sorry you have no news to give him. I hope you’re able to speak to your father when you come back.”

“I hope so, too,” Johnny mumbled.

“Give Prince Chittaphon my love,” Arlene requested. Johnny nodded. “I suggest you go get ready. It is almost midday.”

“Do you know where Mark is?” Johnny asked and Arlene shook her head.

“Not in the castle, that’s for sure. Any messages you want me to give him?”

“No,” Johnny responded. “Thank you.”

Back in his room, Johnny changed. There was no use of his regular clothes at Ten’s; the humid heat was no joke. He took a look at the unsent letter he had just written that morning, a wide smile on his face. Whatever the reason his Majesty had to see him didn’t take up as much space in his mind as the idea of holding Ten again. Arlene came to get him when it was time, both walking in comfortable silence towards the stables. He could always count on Arlene being the last person he’d see whenever he left the castle, just as she was the first to greet him whenever he came back. He was glad this time was not an exception, and as he got into the carriage, he could hear her whisper her prayers to the gods for his safe travels. As the carriage began to move he waved at her earning a bright smile. When he couldn’t see her anymore, he turned around and decided to close his eyes.

He didn’t think he was tired but he must’ve been because not even ten minutes into the trip he had fallen deeply asleep in his seat. Had somebody been inside the carriage with him they could’ve kept him from finding himself in a dream that felt so real, his breath was hitched, his body was covered in goosebumps, and he tried to scream for help but nobody could hear. In his dream, he saw his palace in flames. He ran away for what seemed hours although he knew it couldn’t be because he found himself by the ocean and on the beach he saw a small boat. He got into it, and rowed away for a while before his body gave up. He was rescued by a larger ship, which had his own kingdom’s crest in it. They must have been from one of the Islands. Just when he thought he was safe, a large wave appeared close to the ship and began to make its way to it. Thunder struck around, the loud rumbles drowning the screaming of the sailors. The wave covered them all and, for a moment, Johnny felt peace. He couldn’t breathe but as he let himself be pulled down to the depth, he looked up and saw Ten’s face, a tender smile on his face as he got closer to him. Johnny hugged him, and together they fell into the deep. The bizarre part was he could hear Ten’s voice clearly, not morphed by the water at all. He sang to him.

Johnny woke up with a loud gasp. He was already close to Ten’s palace and as the Sun began to set, he could feel cooler winds beginning to dry his sweat. He usually had vivid dreams, they never bothered him. But a dream like that bothered him. He didn’t have nightmares often. And he didn’t have a lot of time to shake the feeling off as he realized that they were inside the palace grounds. Ten was waiting for him. Johnny jumped off the carriage, running towards him. They hugged tightly, Johnny noticed Ten immediately relaxed in his arms like he had let go of a huge burden then.

“Hi,” Johnny whispered. 

“Hi,” Ten mumbled back. “Proper hello inside. There are too many people watching.” They separated. Johnny nodded as he looked around, people helping unload his carriage and taking it towards the stables. Ten grabbed Johnny’s hand and walked him inside. Johnny felt uncomfortable all of the sudden. Servants hurried around, barely taking a moment to notice them, hushed whispers in every corner. Some of the ladies had tears in their eyes, the men looked exhausted. This was a first. Everyone there were some of the friendliest and happiest people Johnny had ever met. They stopped in front of a large pair of doors that Johnny recognized as the King’s chambers. “My father wants to speak with you,” Ten said. It was then Johnny noticed Ten’s dark circles under his eyes. He looked around, making sure they were alone. Satisfied, Ten pulled Johnny closer for a kiss. Johnny kissed him back, first feeling comfortable in the warmth and familiarity of Ten’s lips. Ten was trembling, however, and Johnny could sense something was off. 

“Ten,” Johnny pulled away. Ten kept his eyes closed, his lips parted. He was breathing heavily. It was a different want, Johnny knew. This was the Ten that tried to hold it all together. The kiss was a claim to life.

“We should go in,” Ten finally said, ignoring Johnny’s questioning gaze. Ten knocked on the door twice before opening it. Johnny followed.

The large room was full of servants, some knights, and a man Johnny recognized as the King’s advisor. Everyone stopped whispering once the doors opened, Johnny following Ten as they got closer to the bed. In it laid the King’s pale figure. Johnny recognized difficulties for breathing, yet, he managed to smile at him.

“Johnny,” he whispered. He looked around at everyone in the room. They took this as their cue to leave and when the last servant left, Tanawat patted the bed requesting Johnny sat by him. Johnny looked at Ten who smiled softly and nudged him on. “I see you’re doing well. Me? Not so much,” he chuckled and immediately began to cough. Johnny tried to hide the concern in his face but he failed. “I called you here because I needed to speak to you. Or, rather, tell you something.” Tanawat extended a hand to Johnny who grabbed it. Ten walked closer, grabbing his other hand. “I know my son,” Tanawat began, pride evident as he took a look at Ten. “He is his mother and I’s son. And before he confided both of you’s secret with me, I knew what was in his heart.” Tanawat’s lips began to tremble. He let a few tears stream down his face. “Johnny… you have my blessings to make my son your husband.” Johnny’s eyes widened and he held Tanawat’s hand tighter. Tanawat coughed loudly again. He looked at Ten, “My biggest achievement in this lifetime was to be your father. I know you will be sad for a while but please do not let it hinder you for the rest of your life. At least I know, you will be loved as fervently as I have loved you since the day you were born.” Tanawat closed his eyes. They didn’t notice his last breath had come and gone until his hands held no strength in theirs. The bed shook violently under them as Ten began to scream at his father. Johnny stood as Ten came closer to his father’s face, shaking his body, asking him to wake up. The room echoed each of Ten’s cries and when Johnny noticed the doors being opened he tried to pull Ten away so that the servants and the doctor could check on Tanawat but Ten pushed him and clung onto his father’s still figure, his tears falling all over Tanawat’s peaceful face. 

Johnny’s legs wanted to give up then. He covered his own face as tears left his own eyes. He only uncovered them when he heard the struggling and Ten asking everyone to leave him. Servants pleaded with him, they had to clean Tanawat. Vision blurred behind tears, Johnny just followed the sound of Ten’s screams and used all of his strength to finally pull him away. He hugged him tightly, hoping this way he would stop struggling, but Ten still found ways to hit Johnny’s chest, cursing him to leave him alone. A few minutes and Ten’s body gave up, his crying becoming softer as he let Johnny hold him while the doctor examined Tanawat and servants began to clean. 

Johnny began to walk away, Ten still clung to him. They made their way to Ten’s own room where Johnny noticed that it had begun to storm. A proper response from the weather, he thought. He sat Ten down on his own bed. He was staring off into the distance, sniffling. Every so often, he’d begin to sob but after a few breaths, he’d calm down again. Johnny took Ten’s boots off. He then helped him off his pants and shirt and walked over to grab Ten’s sleeping clothes. After dressing him up, he noticed Ten mumbled to himself. He went to grab a comb after noticing Ten’s hair was disheveled. Johnny combed through Ten’s hair softly as Ten continued to mumble. The only light came from the lightning striking outside. When Johnny felt Ten had stopped trembling, he helped him get up. He grabbed his face and placed a tender kiss on his forehead. Ten leaned forward, eyes closed. Johnny helped him lay properly in bed. He then went to shut down the window blinds, noticing the storm calming down to just rain, the moon making an appearance. 

Johnny laid next to Ten and pulled him closer. He began to run his fingers through Ten’s hair. When Ten’s breath gave away he was deep asleep, Johnny exhaled and hoped Ten was deep enough in his sleep to not feel his body shaking as he finally let himself properly cry.

When morning came, nobody interrupted their sleep. Ten woke up first, eyes fixated on Johnny’s chest, thoughts drifting away from reality. Just a few minutes later Johnny woke up himself. 

“He had been sick for months,” Ten’s hoarse voice surprised Johnny who looked at his face. Ten didn’t look back at him. “He made it seem smaller than what it was. In less than two days, he took a turn for the worse. When I came back from my trip... “ Ten sighed, “... no amount of time can prepare you for the last breath.”

Johnny had no words. He just held Ten tighter. 

“I don’t want to sound ungrateful,” Ten chuckled, “but I can’t believe he didn’t see me get married.”

“Ten…” 

“I could not have asked for a better father,” Ten continued. “I just wish we had more time.”

Time. Johnny wished for the same. More time. The following days were a blur. Royals and nobles came from all around to pay their respects. Even his father made it, surprised that Johnny was already there, yet, avoiding any reason for further conversation. Johnny didn’t care then, his focus was to be by Ten’s side. They barely slept anymore, every passing day hitting Ten harder than the one before. In between meeting with people, Tanawat’s advisors began to prepare Ten for his coronation day. They would allow him a month of mourning. Every night began the same: Ten would break down in loud sobs, while Johnny tried to glue back the scattered pieces of Ten’s emotional wellbeing, they would get in bed and just when Johnny thought Ten was deep asleep, he’d wake up screaming. Not a night had passed without a storm, and Johnny wasn’t even surprised whenever thunder struck anymore.

Two weeks after Tanawat’s passing, Johnny received a letter. His father requested to see him. His heart was in shambles when he said goodbye to Ten who tried his best to give him an encouraging smile. 

“I’ll be back, later this week.”

“Don’t keep me waiting…


	6. Chapter 6

Johnny couldn’t make it to his father fast enough. When he made it to the courtroom, the soldiers stopped him from going in.

“He asked to see me!” Johnny said, exasperated. The soldiers looked at each other.

“I know,” the one said, “but now he is having a meeting and asked us to not let anyone bother him. As soon as he’s done though…”

“No,” Johnny refused, his knuckles white. “He has made me wait long enough.”

“Your Highness,” the other soldier said but Johnny shouted.

“He is seeing me right now! And you do  _ not  _ want to touch the heir of the crown. Step away!” Johnny ordered as he made his way through. The soldiers were frozen in place: in all their years serving at the castle and seeing Johnny grow up they had never seen him lose his temper. They were grateful their helmets covered their faces, otherwise, anyone could’ve seen their shocked expressions which almost morphed into terror.

Johnny opened the giant, heavy doors with a strained push. He walked in, lips trembling in anger, his eyes dangerously looking up to his father who stopped mid sentence. Johnny walked forward, ignoring Lee Donghyuck’s father, the King’s advisors, his general, and a few of his servants as they curtsied to him. 

“Everyone get out!” Johnny shouted, frustrated. 

“You insolent-” the King started but Johnny laughed at him and interrupted.

“Did nobody listen to me?” he asked as he looked around. “Get out!” There was fire in his eyes. Or it was the reflection of the torches close to his father’s throne. In any case, everyone hurried out of the hall, leaving Johnny and his father to stare at each other. “You have been ignoring me,” Johnny hissed.

“There are things more important to be concerned about than whatever it is you’re wanting to tell me,” his father responded. “But since you’re here now, there is something that I was meaning to tell you.”

“You  _ did  _ call me here,” Johnny said. He was angry he had to leave Ten alone at the time. He was angry his father seemed to have no time for him. Even when he was the one who had called him there. 

“Yes,” his father said calmly. He looked into Johnny’s eyes and continued. “You know things are not going well right now. The isles have been rising arms against us. A few kingdoms in the north are coming together to attack us…”

“How sure of that are you?” Johnny interrupted. Jaehyun had said they had no information.

“Extremely sure.” His father looked at him. “Johnny what is going on with you? You are never this argumentative and insolent.”

“So there are threats against us,” Johnny ignored him. “And?”

“And we might have to go to war,” his father continued. “And I will have to fight alongside our people. But that’s not all.”

“Is it ever all with you,” Johnny mumbled annoyed. 

“We do not have enough resources to deal with this on our own,” his father continued, ignoring him. “We need help.”

“We could ask-” Johnny started. He knew Ten would help no matter what. He’d be crowned soon enough and he had the resources to help.

“There is a kingdom in the northwest that is willing to help. To show our commitment to our pact…” Johnny frowned. “I have organized it so that you will be marrying their princess in two weeks’ time.”

“Absolutely not!” Johnny immediately shouted. His voice echoed in the hall as he began to shake. 

“She is in the castle, ready to meet you,” his father continues calmly.

“Not interested,” Johnny spat.

“We need their help and  _ you  _ need a consort.”

“No,” Johnny shook his head.

“You will marry her.”

“With whose permission?”   
“Mine!” his father roared, leaving Johnny speechless. For a moment he remembered the countless times that, as a child, his father would angrily order to leave a room. Or to stop asking questions. Sometimes he even asked him to not smile while around him. He had better things to do, always. Like remarrying a few months after his mother died. Or cheating on Mark’s mother to the point where she couldn’t hold on to life, not even for her four year old child. Johnny despised his father. It was then he began to feel the ache in his heart as he remembered that, the closest thing he ever got to one was gone.

“I am already betrothed to somebody else,” Johnny started. It took all of his strength to hide the shakiness in his voice. “And… we wouldn’t have to worry about resources.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Ten- Chittaphon, Prince Chittaphon he-” Johnny choked back tears. He looked at his father whose face turned redder in anger every second that passed “-I love him.”

“Why couldn’t you say something sooner?” his father asked, covering his face in frustration.

“You wouldn’t meet with me!” Johnny protested.

“I can’t back up,” his father said. For the first time ever, Johnny saw a glimpse of regret in his father’s eyes. His father held Tanawat in high esteem. He liked Ten and knew he’d make not only an excellent king but an excellent ally as well. “You must marry her, I can’t back up.”

“You can,” Johnny insisted, “you are a king. Ten has resources and he will be crowned soon.”

“I will not have another kingdom join this war against us,” his father responded. He looked at Johnny and sighed, “duty before heart, boy.”

“No,” Johnny shook his head. “No. I will marry Ten. I will be his consort and Mark will take over for me.”

“You are speaking nonsense,” his father cracked his knuckles frustrated.

“Our kingdoms’ relationship will be at its strongest,” Johnny began to cry, “I will marry Ten. Please, I have never asked anything of you.”

“I can’t back out,” his father replied.

“I will marry Ten,” Johnny sobbed looking away through a glass window. It was calm outside yet a shiver ran through his spine. “I think it’s best you figure that out on your own.”

“Johnny,” his father tried but Johnny just smiled at him between tears.

“I will marry Ten.” 

Johnny slowly backed away, refusing to look at his father. He ignored his commands for him to come back and he walked away towards his room. When he got there he found Arlene sitting on his perfectly made bed. He closed the door behind him and slowly walked towards her sniffling. He knelt down by her and laid his head on her lap.

“My dear boy,” Arlene said as she slowly stroked his hair. He began to sob again. “What are you going to do?” for a while he couldn’t respond as he kept crying loudly, shaking so violently he’d run out of breath momentarily. Arlene hummed a song, one that she had always used to calm him down. His own mother taught it to her. “It’s all so hopeless now, isn’t it?” she asked when she felt him calm down.

“I have to go back,” Johnny responded, his voice hoarse. “He needs to know from me, we need to figure it out. Together.”

“You can go tomorrow,” Arlene said but Johnny shook his head.

“No. I must leave tonight,” he sat and grabbed Arlene’s hands. He tenderly kissed each of them and smiled at her. “I will send someone for you. You will come live with us,” he stood up ignoring his caretaker’s pleas. “Take care.” He quickly walked away and left the room before she could even speak. She placed a hand over her heart and looked outside. Nighttime was falling. She couldn’t find even a glimpse of the moonlight. 

“I’m sorry, boy,” Johnny mumbled at his horse. The stables were quiet except for the noise of the wind outside. “It’s gonna be a long ride but I need you to be as fast as you can, alright?” Johnny placed his forehead against his horse’s, slowly brushing its hair with his hand. “I know you can. Let’s go.”

As Johnny galloped away from the castle grounds, he could hear the far rumbles of thunder coming from the seaside. He hoped no ships would be capsized by what sounded like it could become a terrible storm. Up in his room, Arlene looked over the window and managed to find his figure in the darkness, prayers to ancient gods whispered between her trembling lips as she hoped he could be fast enough.

Knowing the way to Ten’s by heart came in handy as Johnny tried to direct his horse through the unnaturally dark forest that separated their kingdoms. If he had to guess, the forest was probably larger than both kingdoms combined, trees so tall they seemed to reach the sky. Nocturnal animals curiously stared as his horse went through. His heart was heavy in his chest and he had to control his urge to cry and scream right then and there. When he finally made it out of the forest he knew it’d be just a few more minutes before he saw the outer side of Ten’s kingdom. The walls rose almost as tall as the trees he had just encountered, knights patrolling on the walls by hundreds of torches. They recognized him and his horse, so within seconds the gates were opened for him to ride into. He slowed his horse down in consideration of the people who were probably asleep in the town. When he finally made it to the castle, though, he found himself in the middle of a commotion.

“Your Highness,” a servant greeted when he finally stopped his horse by the main doors.

“Hello,” Johnny greeted back, “what is going on?”

“We’re not sure,” the girl replied. “Prince Chittaphon hasn’t left his room for a few hours now. He won’t let anyone in either.”

Johnny frowned. “Would you take care of my horse?” he asked. The girl nodded and he jumped off and handed the reins to her. He walked in through the main entrance, aware of being stared at by everyone. They had suddenly stopped in their steps, following him with their eyes instead. He walked up through the grand stairs that he was so accustomed to. He walked to the left halls where he knew the rooms were at. The hall was empty and eerily chill. Johnny walked slowly towards Ten’s room and knocked a few times. There was no response. He tried the handles and was pleasantly surprised when he was able to open them. The room was completely dark aside for the moonlight shining through the large window and, in front of it, sat Ten perfectly still looking outside. Johnny closed the doors behind him and stood there awkwardly for a moment. “Ten,” Johnny whispered loud enough for Ten to hear him. He could see his shoulders rise and immediately drop.

“I believe, congratulations are in order,” Ten said without moving an inch. Johnny looked confused but as he walked closer to Ten he saw: pieces of paper shredded around, bed sheets and pillows thrown around, a chair laid by Ten and it looked like it was missing a leg. Shards of what Johnny recognized as Ten’s grand mirror that used to sit in front of his bed were laying around and he tried to avoid stepping on them.

“Ten?” Johnny tried again getting closer. Ten didn’t move.

“I bet she’s pretty-” Johnny stopped in his tracks. “Your father would marry you to somebody who is pretty.” Johnny’s heart sank. 

“Yes, which is why I’m marrying you,” Johnny responded.

“You are so cruel Your Royal Highness, Johnny Suh,” Ten replied. He finally began to stand up, still looking out the window. “I guess you have inherited your father’s mischief with people’s hearts.” 

“Ten,” Johnny said softly. He stood behind Ten so close he could smell his recently washed hair. “I was not aware of this. And I made it clear to him. I am marrying  _ you. _ ” Johnny placed his hands on Ten’s shoulders and Ten chuckled.

“I am, somehow, expected to believe you?”

“When have I ever given you a reason not to?” Johnny shrieked. This seemed to finally make Ten snap out of his trance. He turned his head slightly and kissed Johnny’s hand. 

“You’re right…” Ten said. Johnny couldn’t see his face and his reflection on the window began to fade as clouds covered the moon. A ray of lightning struck and Johnny was able to, for a moment, see Ten’s smile which did not match the way his eyes looked, deadly and determined, into the horizon. “Do you love me?”

“I love you,” Johnny said as he rested his head on Ten’s, sighing in relief. “Whatever I must do, I will do.  _ I _ will marry  _ you _ .”

“Me too,” Ten said as he turned around and softly pulled Johnny into a kiss. Johnny relaxed to the point tears made it down his cheeks and smiled softly into Ten’s lips. Rain began to drop heavily, thunder rays hitting so close that Johnny could hear some things in the room tremble. Ten broke the kiss and stood on his tiptoes, placing his forehead against Johnny’s who helped him up. “Whatever I must."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ✨hello!   
> just wanted to thank you for giving my story a chance :) if you enjoyed it, remember to leave some kudos and a comment !! you can also follow my twitter @/ changaroo_97 where I'll be posting updates regarding my writing (and there is also a lot of fangirling). I am also using the hashtag #sipmj_updates on twitter to keep everything related to my writing.


	7. Chapter 7

Three weeks. For three weeks, Johnny stayed at Ten’s castle, helping him get ready for his coronation. Ten gave everyone in the castle explicit instructions that they would not allow Johnny’s father to even step a foot into town, much less his castle. To Johnny, Ten was very much the same sweet, thoughtful, man. Within the walls of Ten’s castle, they could hide from the rest of the world and, in that bliss, Johnny reveled in the change to his routine. He began to walk around the palace whenever Ten had meetings with his advisors. Much like his own, Ten’s palace had three levels to it, most of the walls were a light bisque color with golden fixtures. The frames hanging on the corridors were gold as well as most of the small tables decorated with flowers every few steps. Most of the furniture was a dark brown with gold details. The whole place evoked a sense of warmth, with red and purple banners giving it more of a regal sense. But Johnny’s favorite feature of the place must be the main stairs, elegantly standing in the middle of the room, with pure gold railings. As you get to the top there is a giant painting showcasing the Royal Family at the time. Johnny stood in front of it, seeing Tanawat’s proud expression next to his late wife who held Ten when he couldn’t be older than three years old. Her eyes were full of warmth, her smile was wide and Johnny recognized Ten’s in hers. 

For a moment, Johnny wondered if they would commission a painting in the future. He would understand if Ten wanted to keep his family picture up instead. Dozens of flowers were in golden vases under the painting. As much as he loved them, he had to wonder how they could get so many around the castle when their kingdom was, definitely, not friendly to roses.

It was the second day of his third week at Ten’s when he decided he had seen enough of the palace and wanted to see beyond that. He made his way out of the castle grounds, taking everything in. Most of the time, Ten would come over to Johnny’s instead. Johnny was fascinated by Ten’s kingdom. The buildings were made with clay, the largest he could see had only two stories. It was a busy day, he assumed, as he saw countless people walking around. They would take a look at him, curiosity getting to them. He felt a little embarrassed by their looks, it was not only him being almost inhumanly tall compared to all of them, it was the Sun cruelly burning up his skin and leaving patches of pure red. He was definitely not from around, that’s all they could figure out. He noticed a woman struggling with a child who kept crying loudly. He accidentally dropped a toy but she seemed too overwhelmed to notice. Johnny immediately went to grab the toy and called for her to stop. He ran, trying not to push anyone, and finally made it to her. She looked exhausted but still gave him the most genuine smile when he returned the gift. The boy calmed instantly, chewing on the toy. She nodded softly at him and left. It suddenly hit him that she looked so much like Arlene and how, no matter how exhausting, she’d make sure she’d take care of him at all times while he grew up.

He turned around and found a small stall where they were selling small trinkets and fans. He greeted the vendor who began to explain that most of the fans were handmade by him and his daughter had painted them. One caught his eye: it was black and blue with white streaks that reminded him of a storm. He grabbed it and paid for it. It would probably look out of place in the palace, but he couldn’t help but feel like it would be a good gift for Ten. Plus, the borders had gold paint on them. 

When he made it back, he walked over to Ten’s room, and, pleasantly surprised, he walked over to Ten’s desk where the youngest was writing. Johnny gave him a kiss on the cheek and dropped his arms on Ten’s shoulders as he presented him with the gift.

“Do you like it?” Johnny asked.

“I love it,” Ten responded, taking the fan and examining it with a soft smile. He placed it down and kissed Johnny’s left hand. 

“What are you doing?” Johnny asked.

“I am requesting an audience with your father,” Ten replied. Johnny tensed and took a step back. 

“Really?”

“Really,” Ten replied. He turned around to face Johnny. “I am becoming king soon. There are things to be discussed in regards to our kingdoms and our relationships. And-” Ten stood up and grabbed Johnny’s hands, "-us.”

“That makes sense,” Johnny said, looking nervous. 

“There is no need to be nervous,” Ten smiled. It was the smile that melted Johnny, the one that made Ten’s eyes turn into crescents. “I want to make it a casual audience. I figure this will make your father more comfortable to speak with me.” 

“I think that is a great idea,” Johnny said, kissing Ten. 

Ten requested his coronation to be a private ceremony. He invited his townsfolk to the palace’s courtyards for a whole day of celebration. He spoke to almost every person there, Johnny by his side. Everyone told him how sorry they were his father had passed so soon, how happy they were he’d be their king though. Johnny could feel the love of the people for their new king, a boy they had seen grow up over the years into a thoughtful leader. Nobody had any doubt that Ten would do anything for his kingdom. 

The day after, Ten received the letter that Johnny’s father had agreed to an audience. Ten began the preparations for the trip, assuring Johnny that everything would be fine. Johnny did feel some excitement to see Arlene, and Mark, and Jaehyun. During dinner time, Johnny seemed more relaxed about the matter.

“What if he says no,” Johnny asked, “about our marriage.”

“We’ll cross the bridge when we get there,” Ten replied smiling.

“He is so stubborn,” Johnny complained. Ten snorted. “What?”

“You are one to speak,” Ten responded. Johnny looked at him, mouth hanging open in disbelief.

“I am not stubborn!” Johnny exclaimed. Ten laughed.

“Love, you are the most stubborn person I have ever met.”

“I don’t think that is true at all,” Johnny huffed. Ten tilted his head.

“You are proving my point right now,” Ten smiled.

“I am defending myself against your baseless accusations,” Johnny spat back. He took a look at Ten and, suddenly, he dropped his fork. “You’re teasing me.” Ten laughed loudly. “Oh my, you are teasing me!”

“And the look in your face was so worth it,” Ten laughed, barely able to breathe. Johnny looked at him with an arched eyebrow.

“Get up,” Johnny demanded.

“What?” Ten asked giggling, drying away a tear that had fallen off his eye. 

“Get up,” Johnny repeated. Ten’s smile began to fade.

“Oh,” he said concerned as he stood up. He didn’t need to say anything nor did Johnny, as Ten turned around with a smug smile on his face and walked towards his room. When he did, he stood a few steps by the door, looking outside in silence. Candles lit his room and he felt Johnny’s eyes burning on his skin. “Did I make you mad?”

“A little,” Johnny replied, biting his tongue trying not to laugh. Ten turned around pouting.

“I’m sorry,” Ten said, mischief evident in his eyes. Johnny chuckled and shook his head.

“No, you’re not,” Johnny said as he walked closer. Ten shrugged his pout turning into a smirk. “You are  _ so  _ bad,” Johnny complained, grabbing Ten’s face and kissing him. Ten smiled. He pulled Johnny closer and waited a few seconds before he let his tongue wander into Johnny’s mouth. Johnny’s hands made their way down until he grabbed Ten and pulled him up. Ten crossed his legs on Johnny’s waist, holding onto his shoulders as he deepened the kiss. Johnny lost his balance and moved forward, finding a wall to help him rest Ten’s back at. Ten took the opportunity to bite Johnny’s lower lip, sucking into it and letting go with a loud pop.

“I love you,” Ten said softly. He looked into Johnny’s eyes whose face softened.

“I love you, too,” Johnny replied. 

“The rest of our lives doesn’t seem enough,” Ten complained. Johnny laughed. He gave him another quick kiss before he walked over to the bed. He gently laid him down, kneeling over him. Johnny began to undo Ten’s shirt. He began to place soft kisses all over his chest and neck, muttering in between kisses. Ten closed his eyes, breathing heavily. He realized Johnny kept repeating  _ I love you  _ in between kisses like a mantra. Ten smiled, even when he felt the sudden cold on the rest of his body as Johnny let him completely exposed to him. Every touch was a promise to Ten. Johnny kissed Ten’s holding his face down against the pillow gently, relishing in every whimper as he closed the gap between each other. 

The morning came faster than he had hoped. Johnny groaned loudly when Ten left his side, the lack of warmth making him scurry around for a blanket. When he couldn’t find any, he opened his eyes and looked over at Ten who was already getting dressed up. Johnny left the bed and put on a pair of pants before he went and kissed Ten. 

“Good morning,” Ten said warmly. He was too energetic for Johnny who just mumbled something on his neck. “We should get ready quickly. The sooner we are there the sooner we can get it over with.”

“Promise me we are not leaving your bed for a month,” Johnny pouted. Ten laughed.

“Sure, we can stay in bed for a month.”

“I know you’re lying but I’ll take it,” Johnny sighed. He went to grab the rest of his outfit and began to get dressed. A few minutes after they walked over to Ten’s stable where his carriage was ready to leave. They got inside, pleasantly surprised to find a basket full of breakfast that they ate on their way back. 

As soon as they made it closer to Johnny’s home, Johnny saw the trees were lacking their leaves, the wind had slightly picked up. It was still sunny, though, and the ride through town warmed his heart as he saw his townsfolk going on about their days. The gates to the palace grounds were already open for them and when they made it to the side entrance, Johnny smiled widely as he saw Arlene standing by Mark who offered his arm to her for support. The carriage made a full stop and Johnny and Ten hopped off, making their way towards the pair.

“My dear boy,” Arlene said, sounding tired as she extended her arms for a hug. “I have never been apart from you for this long.”

“I know,” Johnny said as he hugged her, “I’m sorry.”

“Has he been behaving?” Mark asked jokingly and Ten smiled.

“He has, he has.”

“Good,” Mark responded as he went in for a hug with Johnny.

“Your Highness,” Arlene curtsied to Ten. “I am so sorry about your loss.”

“I appreciate that, Miss Arlene,” Ten said as he grabbed one of her hands and kissed it. “I don’t want to seem rude. But I should go inside and get this over with.” Arlene nodded at him.

“I’ll walk you over there,” Mark said. Ten smiled at Johnny. Johnny was about to follow when Arlene stopped him.

“I think it will be best if he goes in alone.” Johnny agreed with her. He saw Mark and Ten walk into the palace, Ten taking a look back with a huge grin. “Let’s go to the gardens?”

“Let’s,” Johnny said, letting Arlene hold on to his arm. They walked over to the gardens, the flowers and plants mostly dead because of the cold. He kind of understood now why Mark didn’t like wintertime that much, the gardens really looked depressing.

“Have you been taking care of yourself?” Arlene asked. Johnny nodded. “Tell me all about it.”

“All about it?” Johnny asked, a smirk on his face. Arlene softly hit his hand.

“My dearest boy, I am getting too old for this…”

Johnny told Arlene everything. How Ten had been doing better after his father’s death and that he was learning the ins and outs of being king. He spent a lot of time with his advisors and with the leaders of his town. He sent out letters to all kings and nobles his father had relations with, requesting audiences or their presence so they could discuss the future. For hours, Johnny spoke about how resilient Ten had been, how he was so excited that was the man he’d get to marry one day, how his people loved him and so did he. He was interrupted by a knight who looked completely out of breath as he ran to them.

“Your Highness,” the man said as he fell to his knees. Johnny looked at him concerned. 

“What is wrong?” Johnny asked.

“Y-your father,” he started, “the king… and King Chittaphon…” Johnny stood up. “The sea.” the man began to cough and it was enough for Johnny to run over to the stable. He grabbed Mark’s horse and began to gallop on his way to their beach. He knew Ten wanted to have a more casual audience and he always felt more calm and confident by the sea. As he got closer he noticed there were no seagulls as rain dripped down. The sky was so dark it looked like it had turned into night, thunder falling close to the water. Johnny made it down the road towards the beach, the horse barely able to make it without slipping. He saw his father holding a sword against Ten. Johnny shouted at him to stop.

“What are you doing?” Johnny screamed, hopping off his horse. His father didn’t move but Ten looked at him with a smile.

“It’s okay,” Ten shouted back, “it’s going to be okay.” Ten was standing too close to the water, though Johnny remembered the water shouldn’t have gone that far into land.

“Father,” Johnny pleaded. His father remained silent, sword at Ten’s neck. 

“I will not allow it,” his father said as Ten grinned. 

“I can’t have that, I made a promise,” Ten shouted back. The rain falling on the already angry ocean made it difficult for him to be heard. 

“You are just two insolent kids, you don’t know anything about the world! But you will learn one day! I respected your father, but you have done nothing to earn my respect. I will not hesitate getting rid of you if I must!” Johnny gasped. He walked closer but Ten held his hand.

“Do not get closer,” Ten commanded. “It’s funny you say that sir,” Ten said, his expression darkening. Johnny could’ve sworn he saw Ten’s eyes light up for an instant. He looked at Johnny, “I also said I’d keep my promise and do anything… whatever I must.” The ocean began to recede behind Ten. Johnny frowned thinking maybe the heavy rain was blurring his vision. He jumped when a series of thunder began to strike, a massive wave forming behind Ten. Johnny’s father looked up lowering his sword. The wave was pointing at him. “I have learned recently,” Ten said calmly, “that I can and  _ will  _ destroy you.”

“What are you saying boy? Are you threatening me?” Ten smiled.

“No. I’m promising.” Ten raised his hand and motioned it towards the king. He remembered everything Johnny had told him; the abuse they endured for years, his mother’s suspicious death, Mark’s mother’s illness… Ten began to glare at the king as the wave fell on him, dragging him to the ocean leaving his sword behind. 

“King Chittaphon has killed the king!” Johnny heard a knight shout behind him. He heard more of them screaming. Ten looked at them, panic clear in his eyes. The water behind him began to go in circles, thunder striking almost everywhere until a ray hit Ten in his arm. He let out a scream and fell to his knees. Johnny began to run to him when a knight kept him from doing so and pulled him back.

“Ten! Ten!” Johnny shrieked. Ten smiled at him.

“Please forgive me,” Ten said loudly enough for Johnny to hear.

“No, no!” Johnny was taken away as knights ran over to Ten’s injured figure. “Do not touch him! Get away from him!” 

“Whatever I must,” Ten mumbled. His vision started to darken, he began to lay on the sand. “Whatever I must, love.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh gods, let's gooooo!  
> hello, angst my old friend... I hope you guys liked this chapter, I know the emotions are off the charts!  
> Remember to leave some kudos and comment if you are enjoying :) I also am on twitter as @/ changaroo_97 where I fangirl a lot but also post some updates. I am also using the #/sipmj_updates on twitter as well. come say hi!


	8. Chapter 8

Hours that felt like decades went by in a blur. It took five soldiers to drag Johnny back to the palace grounds where they felt they could keep him safe. At some point he gave up and let them take him away as the last image burned on his mind was Ten kneeling over, his arm barely hanging to his body, with blood splattered everywhere on the sand, washed away by the furious ocean. If he thought there was a chance Ten survived any of that blood loss wasn’t enough to keep him afloat. The shouting sounded so far away, the rain felt like it was burning on his skin, and when they had made it inside the castle doors, he pulled away from the knights that held him and knelt on the carpet at the main hall, screaming. He stained the carpet with sand, mud, rainwater and, now, tears that couldn’t be stopped. He couldn’t breathe but he figured it was for the best if, right then, he gave up. 

Mark ran to him, his own vision blurred by tears. He was followed by Haechan who had been staying over for a few days. Mark knelt in front of Johnny, grabbing the eldest by the shoulders.

“Tell me it’s not true!” Mark managed to say in between sobs. “Johnny, talk to me!” he demanded. When their eyes finally met it was the confirmation Mark needed. He cursed loudly. “I told you I’d help! I told you I had your back!” Mark’s panicked shriek echoed against the walls. “What have you done?” Mark questioned. Johnny snapped out of it, the sound of Mark’s cries clashing with his own. He took a deep breath and brough Mark closer for a hug, one that Mark tried to deny by pushing and softly punching Johnny. “You are so stupid!” Mark cried against his chest as he gave up and let Johnny hold him just like he had done every day since he was born; any time Mark cried he knew his brother would be there to hold him without him asking, he’d stroke his hair and mutter encouragement. They stood like that for a while, Haechan next standing next to them looking at the floor. 

“We have him!” they heard a knight shout. Though confused, Johnny knew who they were talking about just by the way he heard thunder striking closer to the castle with every passing second. The sound was enough to make anyone be scared, it was loud and erratic like the thoughts going through Johnny’s head. He pulled Haechan down, hiding his face away from the lightning. Johnny struggled to look back, the doors still wide open. He was hopeful this meant he was alive.

He felt Mark calm down a few minutes after. He seemed to be more concentrated on pressing Haechan, who was trembling under their hug, against him. Johnny began to let go. 

“Trust me,” he told Mark who frowned at him. “I didn’t do anything. W-we didn’t do anything. It wasn’t h-him,” Johnny hiccuped, tears beginning to fall down his face again. Mark’s gaze softened for a bit. “I’ll get us some answers.” Johnny stood up and walked outside, making his way to the entrance to the dungeons knowing it’d be fastest that way.

“He can’t control it,” Haechan mumbled against Mark.

“What?” Mark asked, looking at Haechan who kept his eyes closed. Lightning struck again.

“He can’t control it,” Haechan whispered. He was trembling and Mark helped him up. They ran towards his room where he placed him under several blankets. He laid next to him, holding him tightly. 

The dungeons were dark and, when a storm of this magnitude hit, they became unbearably cold. Not that Johnny ever remembered a storm like this. He went down to the lowest level where he could hear panicked voices and could see the light coming from eight torches. 

“Your Highness,” a knight stepped in front of Johnny. 

“You will regret it if you do not step aside,” Johnny hissed. He took a deep breath and the man did as told. “All of you, out! And you better be finding Arlene and sending her over here.”

“But-” a knight tried but Johnny’s murderous gaze made them squeal. They all left and Johnny finally saw him lying on the floor in the middle of a cell. They let the gate open and Johnny moved forward. There wasn’t as much blood laying around as he expected, but when he walked around him, he could see Ten’s pale face. His eyes were shut and he was shaking violently. Johnny placed a hand on his forehead and, as he expected, he was burning up. Ten mumbled incoherently.

“I’m here,” Johnny sniffled. “I’m here.” Ten opened his eyes and let out a cry. He gasped for air for a moment staring off to the ceiling. He began to breathe more normally, his eyes regaining their focus until he found Johnny’s. Johnny heard a final striking of lightning before he noticed through a small window on the cell that the rain began to become a drizzle. 

“What happened?” Ten asked, his voice barely a whisper. Johnny’s heart skipped a beat.

“You just killed my father,” Johnny responded, pushing away Ten’s hair from his face.

“What?” Ten asked again.

“You were also struck by lightning and your arm is barely hanging to your body right now,” Johnny said. His voice was so low and slow that it sent chills down Ten’s spine. “Upstairs I have a boy at the verge of a panic attack. Our father wasn’t the most loving… hell, I know we aren’t even sad he is dead. But that boy said he’d help us. He said he’d step up to my place so that I could elope away with you,” Johnny’s words stung Ten’s heart. He looked at him like he had lost his mind but, in Johnny’s eyes, it was Ten who had lost his. “Care to… explain, what the hell just happened? Care to tell me why the king is dead? Mark had no time and, if your explanation is good enough, he might still have to become king himself. He needed time… Ten, we needed time, what did you do?” Ten’s lips began to tremble. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Ten started. Johnny snapped.

“What the hell do you mean you don’t know what I’m talking about!” Johnny roared. Ten flinched and, just then, he felt the excruciating pain on his arm. He winced and looked at it. He felt sick. Johnny grabbed Ten’s exposed shoulder and squeezed it. Ten let out a guttural scream, tears falling down his eyes. “I bet this doesn’t feel good,” Johnny screamed, “what happened?”

“I don’t know!” Ten cried, feeling the bile coming up from his stomach. Johnny squeezed harder on. 

“Have you gone mad?” Johnny cried. “No matter what he said, no matter what he did, I was still going to marry you. You didn’t have to kill him!” 

Ten began to choke. Johnny helped him lay on his side. He stopped squeezing Ten’s shoulder and, instead, just patted his back slowly. When he stopped, Johnny helped him lay on his back again.

“The last thing I remember,” Ten started, “I was at the beach. Your father held a sword against my neck. He said,” Ten swallowed, “he said that he would die before he let you leave with me. He… said you didn’t actually love me. I don’t remember anything after that.”

Johnny looked at Ten. He looked so defeated lying on the floor. He wanted to believe him, but Johnny couldn’t understand how Ten didn’t remember anything.

“Ten,” Johnny started. “They will want to have your head for this.”

“But I don’t remember anything!” Ten protested. 

“They saw you,” Johnny sniffled.

“What did they see, exactly?” Ten asked. 

“You began to get angry and, with you, so did the ocean. And the skies. Thunderstorm struck the water and there was no order, they just kept doing so and then the water receded…” Johnny shut his eyes, trying to remember, “Ten, you made the water swallow my father away. He only left his sword behind.” Ten looked at Johnny, confused. Johnny shrugged. “A ray hit you and here we are?”

“You expect me to believe I did that?” Ten asked. He looked at Johnny as if Johnny had suddenly grown a second head. 

“Well it’s not like I want to believe it myself!” Johnny replied exasperated. He sighed. “You seriously do not remember anything?” Ten shook his head. The lack of blood was starting to do a number on him and he was feeling too weak to even speak. “I am so confused.” Ten smiled, softly. He held his hand towards Johnny’s face. “We’ll figure it out. I am not giving up on you.” 

Ten nodded and drifted away. Just then, Arlene had made it and was ready to help.

Johnny spent the night in the cell with Ten. He couldn’t sleep so he just kept an eye on him, making sure he was still breathing. Any time he tried to shut his eyes to rest all he could see was the events of the previous day. When day came, he heard footsteps getting closer. He prepared to ask the guards to go away but was surprised when he saw Mark and Haechan holding a plate with bread and cheese. Jaehyun was following them, his face solemn.

“You look like hell,” Mark said as he gave the plate to Johnny. Johnny smiled weakly. Mark took a look at Ten who was still asleep.

“He doesn’t remember,” Johnny said. He took a bite of bread.

“Johnny,” Mark started but Johnny interrupted.

“I want to believe him,” Johnny continued. Mark rolled his eyes and smacked his head.

“I think he’s telling the truth,” Mark said. Johnny looked at him wide eyed. “Haechan?” Haechan walked over. He looked the best out of everyone in the room. Had the circumstances been different, Mark would’ve probably told Johnny he held Haechan for the whole night. He might’ve told him that all of his worries went away when he tried to make sure Haechan was okay. 

“Hello, Your Highness,” Haechan started softly, “please listen carefully. It took me a few hours this morning to convince Mark of what I’m about to say. I am hoping you’re an easier audience to convince.” Haechan sat next to Johnny crossing his legs. His posture was so perfect Johnny felt self conscious about his own. “I believe Ten doesn’t remember what happened because I don’t think he had any control over it.” Haechan stopped and took a look at Johnny who started to look a bit more awake. “I think he is the one. He is blessed by the god of water.” Silence. Johnny looked at Haechan like he had solved the whole issue and given him all the answers he had been looking for. “It has never happened before. So even the god of water doesn’t know how much power he has given him. And it seems to me that we have a long road ahead of us if he isn’t even conscious that he’s doing what he’s doing.”

“Donghyuck,” Johnny smiled, “what is the possibility that you are right?”

“I’ll say he is completely right,” Mark answered. “As much as it pains me to admit it. He is never wrong.” 

“What now?” Johnny asked.

“He needs to heal, first,” Haechan responded. “And he needs to be calm. Any agitation and we don’t know how he would react.”

“Thank you, Donghyuck,” Johnny said. He looked at Mark who smiled softly.

“Don’t thank me yet,” Haechan said. “I have no idea where to go from here. I might know who does, though…”

“I think I have an idea, too,” Johnny said. “And it is the best place we could take him right now.”

“Where?” Jaehyun asked, finally breaking his silence as he stood in the corner.

“Home,” Johnny replied, “we should take him home.” Everyone looked at each other silently while Johnny stroked Ten’s hair. The words stung remembering the way they were said; a proud and loving father kneeling between two boys by the sea.

_ Promises made by the water can never be broken. You could anger the gods if you break them. _


	9. Chapter 9

Ten was too weak to travel. For almost a week, Johnny took care of his wound with Arlene’s help. At the very least they managed to have Ten eat and drink and he spent more time conscious. They couldn’t explain how his arm began to reattach itself to the rest of his body. But Johnny couldn’t explain a lot about Ten lately. 

They began to talk, again. It was mostly small chats about the outside, how even though it was winter the Sun was shining which helped with people’s mood. Johnny did most of the talking. At first he would sit within an arm’s length, stumbling on his own words and awkward coughs. By the fourth day he sat closer, would be stroking Ten’s hair and his way with words was more comfortable. On the sixth day, he’d rearrange so that Ten could lay his head on his lap. 

He didn’t know if it was acceptable to talk more about what happened. Outside the cell his world had become so chaotic that the moments he could spend by Ten were, as per usual, his safest place to hide. 

He woke up before the Sun had risen. It was still a strange routine for him, but Johnny found it working for him lately. He got ready, walked to grab breakfast for himself and Ten, made sure Ten actually ate his food, and then he’d come up for a few hours to help everyone figure themselves out. Before his first meeting he requested Jaehyun to come in.

“Good morning,” Johnny greeted with a small smile. Jaehyun looked exhausted which made sense since Johnny wouldn’t let anyone else guard Ten.

“Hi,” Jaehyun responded holding back a yawn.

“Ten is much stronger,” Johnny said. “I think he could withstand a trip home.” Jaehyun perked up, a wide smile on his face.

“That’s great! We can get this figured out quicker.” Jaehyun stopped. He looked over at Johnny whose eyes showed so much hope. “I truly believe we’ll find something out, Johnny. We’ll be able to show everyone that it was an accident and you will be able to live your life with him… because you still want to live your life with him, right?”

“Yes,” Johnny quickly responded. “Absolutely I do. I still want answers though. Imagine we have a quarrel and he accidentally drowns me,” Johnny joked. They both began to laugh, something Johnny hadn’t done in days. “In all seriousness, we need to clear his name somehow. I’m not about to let people think he is just a murderer.”

“I know,” Jaehyun nodded. Jaehyun looked outside, the sky beginning to light up with the sunrise. “I hope I find somebody who believes in me as much as you believe in him one day.”

“You will,” Johnny shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry.”

The time for his meeting came up. Jaehyun stood by Johnny as Mark and Haechan walked in, followed by advisors and generals. Haechan’s father was also there. Mark sat in the chair next to Johnny which allowed the eldest to notice the dark circles under Mark’s eyes. Haechan looked equally exhausted yet was able to show a smile. _The perfect consort_ , Johnny thought. 

“Welcome, everyone,” Johnny finally said. An awkward silence fell upon the room. Johnny cleared his throat and one of his advisors began to speak.

“Your Highness, we believe it is time to figure out what King Chittaphon’s punishment will be,” Johnny managed to keep himself from rolling his eyes. “We also need to prepare for your coronation.”

“So I feared that’s what you all wanted,” Johnny responded. “First of all, there will be no punishment until we figure out what exactly happened.”

“Your father was murdered!” a general said. Johnny glared at him. “Sorry, Your Highness.”

“Please don’t interrupt me,” Johnny said, feeling his good mood fading. “His Majesty, King Chittaphon doesn’t even remember what happened. I’m not letting you all punish a man who doesn’t even understand what is going on.”

“Goes without saying it’s the man you’ve been screwing,” the general mumbled. Johnny smiled dangerously.

“Please, share your thoughts louder,” Johnny requested. Jaehyun tensed besides him and Mark seemed more awake yet trying to stifle a chuckle. 

“Nothing, sir.”

“It is no secret that I am in love with King Chittaphon,” Johnny continued. “And yes, I screw him _hard_ ,” he spat. Mark almost began laughing while Haechan squeezed his shoulder reminding him it was not the best time. “Which is beside the point.”

“It is exactly the point,” one of the advisors interrupted. Johnny massaged his forehead, annoyance clear in his face. 

“How about we figure out a punishment for those who _keep interrupting me,_ ” Johnny sighed, his stare was now murderous. “I guess I’ll get to the point since you are all so anxious. It doesn’t matter because I am not becoming King, Mark is.” Silence. “Okay, so now that you all could speak you won’t?”

“Your Highness!” the same advisor exclaimed. Everyone in the room began speaking all at once. Johnny let them for a while until he became annoyed at not being able to understand a word anyone was saying so he turned to Jaehyun. Johnny prided himself in being scary whenever he wanted to but he attributed a lot of it to his position and sometimes his face. Jaehyun, on the other hand, was too pretty for his own good so when he showed any sign of anger or a commanding attitude he was _terrifying._ Johnny learned this in the worst way possible but he also kept encouraging it. So when Jaehyun took a step forward and commanded everyone to shut up with a glare, not even the wind outside made any noise.

“I will be taking my brother’s place,” Mark began speaking. Johnny looked at him with a proud smile, while also finding humor in everyone’s faces. “I am more than ready and capable of doing so. And because it is such, I am allowing my brother to figure out King Chittaphon’s situation before passing any judgement. I am more of a neutral ground, right? I am not screwing him,” Johnny choked. Mark looked at him with a sly smile. Even Haechan couldn’t hide his surprise and the way he wanted to laugh. “This is my last word on the matter. We will be reaching out to everyone with further updates. Johnny will be taking Ten with him.”

“No!” an advisor said. Mark rolled his eyes.

“This is not open for discussion, I’m just telling you what will be happening. Jaehyun here will accompany them.” Once again, the room was silent. This time, Johnny didn’t wait for an uproar.

“You guys have seen us grow up. I understand you have a commitment to our kingdom but this promise includes a commitment to us,” he said pointing at Mark and himself. “Please, just give us time. Help Mark prepare for his coronation while I figure out King Chittaphon’s situation.”

“How can we be sure that, if you find King Chittaphon planned your father’s killing, that you will bring him back?” Haechan’s father asked. Johnny did his best to appear distraught. He even managed to make his eyes tear up on command.

“Because it’s my father who died,” Johnny said softly, a tear escaping his eye. Mark, impressed yet confused, reached out to hold his hand. _Bullshit,_ Mark thought. Even if Ten were guilty, which he honestly thought he wasn’t, Johnny would rather die than bring Ten back to be killed. And he was right. Johnny’s mind was swirling with thoughts of where they could hide if they couldn’t prove Ten’s innocence. 

“I don’t like this,” an advisor said. “But it doesn’t seem we can change your guys’ mind?”

“Absolutely not,” Johnny replied. “And please, don’t try.” Everyone nodded. “King Chittaphon seems to be stronger at the time. He could withstand a trip to his home and that is where I intend to take him to start figuring out what is going on with him.”

“I still believe this is nonsense,” the general spoke. Johnny rolled his eyes.

“Oh, because you have experience with people controlling water and thunder who can also heal themselves to the point they can reattach their severed arms back to their bodies?” Johnny asked sarcastically. The man didn’t respond, instead, he looked at the ground. “Nobody here knows what actually happened. Nobody here has any idea or experience on what we are dealing with. So, please, just shut up. I will not let you guys take an innocent man’s life just because you can’t understand him.” Johnny stood up, already done with the meeting and ready to go get Ten out of there. “I suggest you all concentrate on helping my brother figure out what kind of messes our father got our kingdom in and how to resolve them. _That_ is something you all have an idea and experience dealing with. And-” Johnny stopped. He looked at Mark softly “-I will not hesitate on letting King Chittaphon unleash whatever the hell is inside of him on anyone who doesn’t make sure my brother is safe.” Johnny walked away followed by Jaehyun. In a way it felt great to have no real consequences to him not following royal protocols down to the letter. However, his concern for Mark grew every step he took towards his room to grab a few things.

“Jaehyun,” Johnny said after closing his room’s door. “Is there anyone in the guards that you trust would keep Mark safe?”

“Yeah,” Jaehyun replied after thinking for a moment. “There is a guard, his name is Sicheng, I think he could.”

“Please go to him. Tell him he is in charge of keeping Mark safe,” Johnny requested as he began to throw some clothes on a bag. “Tell him that if when I come back there is even a scratch on Mark that I will make sure he regrets it.”

“He was there,” Jaehyun had a sinister smile on his face, “at the beach.”

“Even better!” Johnny said excitedly, “If anything happens to my brother, tell him I’ll let Ten have him.” Jaehyun snorted, leaving the room with a grin. Johnny continued rummaging everywhere in his room making sure he had everything he needed. It was then when he felt the door opening again. He turned around to see Arlene.

“My dear boy,” she started. She held a sword with both her hands as well as a knitted scarf. She offered them both to Johnny who quickly grabbed them. “I believe I won’t see you for a long time.”

“I’ll make it quick,” Johnny promised. 

“Take your time,” she smiled. “And take care of yourself.”

“Will you look out after Mark for me?” Johnny asked. Arlene nodded.

“Do you even have to ask?” Johnny hugged her. He kept his composure as she left the room. He took a look at the sword and then grabbed the scarf and placed it on his neck. He walked out of the room and made his way to the dungeons. He found Ten sitting against a wall, looking out the window. Johnny made no sound, instead, he looked at him. Ten had a small smile on his face, he looked like he was daydreaming. He was playing with the strings on his shirt. It hurt Johnny, deeply, to know that to anyone else who saw him knowing what had happened they wouldn’t be able to see his true beauty. Johnny wanted to kiss him so badly. But he wasn’t sure Ten would welcome a kiss with open arms. They hadn’t talked about that day. Johnny felt great guilt every time he thought of his reaction. Ten was barely hanging to life yet he was screaming at his face. Ten had never given him a reason to mistrust him yet Johnny questioned him. And, had it not be for Haechan, he would probably still be suspicious. 

Ten finally looked at him and smiled. “I was beginning to feel lonely,” he said. Johnny felt a pain in his chest. Now he wanted to hold him and promise him he’d never let go. 

“Sorry,” Johnny replied. He wished he could continue, _sorry for yelling at you, sorry for not trusting you, sorry for needing Haechan to confirm to me that I wasn’t crazy for hoping you didn’t know what you did, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I love you, I’m sorry,_ Johnny thought. Ten shook his head.

“No worries.”

“We’re going home,” Johnny started, “your home. With Jaehyun. To start figuring out what is going on with you.”

“Good,” Ten mumbled. “We came to the same conclusion, didn’t we?”

“Which is?” Johnny asked, walking over to help Ten up from the floor.

“That my father was obsessed with the gods, particularly the god of water and storms. So maybe he knew something. Or he left something that could help.” Johnny’s eyes widened. Ten was up now, holding on to Johnny’s arms. “Did I get that right?”

“Yes,” Johnny responded. He looked away as he felt the blushing creeping on his cheeks under Ten’s intense stare. 

“We are so good at this, Love,” Ten smiled. Johnny looked at him, his mouth half open. He couldn’t fully describe the feeling on his stomach as his eyes welled up. He softly grabbed Ten’s face and brought it slightly up. Ten’s eyes were glistening with tears as well. In the cold dungeons of Johnny’s childhood home, he gently kissed Ten feeling like a lifetime had passed since the last time he held him like that. To hear him call him by a name only Ten could call him confirmed that he didn’t hold anything against him. He probably understood. He probably was too soft on him. But Johnny didn’t care. He’d apologize later on anyway. In that instant, all he could do was show rather than say because Ten was air to him and he felt like he hadn't been breathing for far too long. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my goddddd my emotions are all over the place 😅 i love these two so much.  
> remember you can find lots of fangirling and updates about my writing process on my twitter @/ changaroo_97 and under the hashtag #/ sipmj_updates


	10. Chapter 10

The trip to Ten’s palace was mostly silent. Jaehyun took on the reins, sitting comfortably outside of the carriage. They chose a less flamboyant one out of all the ones Johnny and his family owned. Johnny and Ten quietly sat inside the cart. Ten looked out the window, his eyes barely open as the Sun shone directly at them. Johnny read a journal Haechan gave him, full of stories regarding the gods and all of what Haechan knew. Johnny was, first, impressed with Haechan’s knowledge. He was then impressed with his penmanship and how he could never write anything so elegantly as Haechan did. He wondered what kind of consort he would be to Ten since Mark got the most perfect one out there. Or, at least, Johnny _hoped_ Mark would have the most perfect one out there. He felt his heart drop a little at the thought and he looked at Ten who was still mesmerized by the same forest he had traveled through countless times in the past years. Would they be able to figure Ten out? Was it truly possible that he was ignorant of the power he wielded? Ten had always been the calming force in Johnny’s world, a cool balm against the burning of his anger. He had never heard Ten raise his voice not even at him when he’d act out, especially when they were teenagers. Ten was always smiling, Johnny loved how his smile was always so bright his eyes would turn into crescents and his nose would scrunch up. Ten was bliss itself. But the Ten he saw at the beach was a stark contrast. There was no warmth, there was anger and sadness. There was a shift in the energy of the very world Johnny had known for years since meeting Ten. It all happened in the same exact spot they met. That Ten looked ruthless. His eyes didn’t look softly in front of him, he bared his teeth like a wild wolf. And, still, Johnny thought Ten looked beautiful in the way he found the furious ocean beautiful.

He looked up when he felt Ten staring. “What?” he asked. Ten shook his head softly, blushing.

“We’re almost there,” Ten replied. He looked like he wanted to say something else but decided against it. Johnny closed the journal and placed it aside. He then reached forward and grabbed Ten’s hands. He gave each a soft kiss.

“I love you, Ten,” Johnny smiled, “I love you. To me, not much has changed.”

“Except for the fact I killed your father,” Ten said with an awkward smile.

“You know I didn’t care much for him,” Johnny rolled his eyes.

“You got mad at me,” Ten reminded him.

“It was not exactly the transition I wanted to leave for Mark,” Johnny said. Ten nodded.

“Fair enough.”

“Ten, my allegiance has not changed. My feelings haven’t changed. I am yours as much as I was yesterday and the day before that.”

“Love,” Ten whispered. He then gave Johnny a bright smile, the kind that melted Johnny away, “It is me who belongs to you.” Johnny moved forward and kissed Ten. 

“You know,” Johnny cut their kiss short, breathless, “you kind of looked really good manipulating ocean waves.”

“This is how I know you’re back to normal,” Ten rolled his eyes, pulling away while Johnny giggled. 

“You cannot blame me for wondering how we could put that to use,” Johnny shrugged.

“Oh no, you leave my so called _powers_ alone,” Ten shook his head blushing. He decided to look out the window again while Johnny laughed. 

“I’ll convince you, I always do,” Johnny said smugly, sitting back. 

“You’re too much,” Ten mumbled. His gaze softened when he realized they were driving through town. Everyone looked like they usually did: busy, happy, calmly strolling around going about their days. He wondered if the news hadn’t reached yet. He suddenly became concerned about what his people would think when the news did reach town. Johnny noticed the way his face darkened with worry.

“I don’t think they’d believe a rumor without hearing from you, first,” Johnny started. Ten looked at him forcing a smile. 

“What would I say?”

“That you’re getting to the bottom of it?” Johnny offered. Ten nodded. It wasn’t a terrible idea.

“They’ll think I am a freak. What then?”

“We’ll explain. Fear is only powerful when it’s rooted in ignorance. Once they know, they’ll see the positives only.”

“What positives could this situation have?” Ten complained.

“Well if we figure out a way to have you actually control whatever it is you’d be the most powerful king… you’d be able to protect them,” Johnny smiled. Ten hadn’t considered that as an option at all.

“And if I can’t control it?” 

“You will.”

“What if I can’t?” Ten insisted through gritted teeth. Johnny sighed.

“We’ll go into hiding in the middle of nowhere. I don’t know, Ten, I haven’t planned for that because _you will be able to control it,_ ” Johnny pressed. Ten lowered his gaze, he knew better than to press on an already frustrated Johnny whose rigidness then was enough for Ten to know he was angry. “I’m sorry,” Johnny spoke. “I have no right to get angry at you. If we can’t figure out how to control it… we’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Johnny grabbed Ten’s hands again, “together.” Ten smiled. “You’ll want to push me away. You have to promise me you won’t push me away.”

“Love,” Ten tried but Johnny shook his head violently.

“Promise me you won’t push me away,” Johnny pleaded. Ten nodded.

“I promise I won’t push you away.”

“We’re here,” Jaehyun interrupted, “it’s so hot in here.”

“Welcome to Elisfen, Jaehyun,” Ten smiled. Johnny giggled as they opened the carriage door, Johnny stepping out first and then helping Ten down.

They were welcomed with bright smiles, a few claps, and some tears? One of Ten’s advisors ran down the main stairs to them.

“Oh, your Majesty, are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” Ten smiled.

“Good,” suddenly the man began to hit and pinch Ten and, with every hit or pinch, he’d speak a word, “then why couldn’t you send any word about you being hurt yourself?”

“Huh?” Ten whimpered.

“We had to find out you were badly hurt by Lee Donghyuck. Lee Donghyuck! He was kind enough to _write_ because _somebody_ was so hurt he couldn’t do so himself. We were all so concerned. Their king died, you were hurt, and Lee Donghyuck of all people was the one who took it into his hands to send a letter!” the man fumed. Ten tried his best not to laugh but it was obvious he was trying too hard. “It’s not funny!”

“I’m sorry Taeyong, I promise I won’t do it again?” Ten tried. Taeyong hit him again on the head. He then turned around and pointed a finger to Johnny’s face.

“And _you,_ ” he hissed, “why couldn’t _you_ write to us about His Majesty’s situation? Huh?” Johnny raised his arms, and thought about it for a second before responding. 

“My father died! And Ten was hurt! Did I mention my father died?” Johnny quaked.

“You did, Love, you did,” Ten whispered while bringing his arms down.

“Fair enough,” Taeyong glared at him. “Fair enough. I have fought a prince before. I will not hesitate to fight you.”

“ _I am_ the prince you fought because I made Ten late for a meeting, Taeyong,” Johnny reminded him. Taeyong shrugged.

“And I’ll do it again,” Taeyong stated. “Well you both should follow me… or the three of you?” Taeyong raised his eyebrow at Jaehyun who awkwardly smiled and waved at him.

“Yeah, the three of us,” Ten said as he began to walk with Taeyong.

“How is this man so tiny yet terrifying?” Jaehyun whispered to Johnny who snorted as they followed them.

“Do not call him tiny. I promise he will break you apart,” Johnny whispered back. Taeyong was the late King’s pride and joy, second only to his own son. He met him during a visit to the local orphanage where Taeyong carried himself with such grace and wisdom for a 11 year old that Tanawat couldn’t help himself. He took the boy to the palace that same day and ordered his advisors to teach him and his most trusted servant to raise him. He was skilled in sword combat, something Johnny admired, but when Johnny remembered their fight it was mostly the way Taeyong ripped his soul apart in front of his very own eyes and he was going so fast at it Johnny believed he was speaking in a foreign language. Words made him terrifying. _That_ was how he could destroy anyone.

They walked into a room with a small round table. Everyone took a seat in silence. Taeyong cleared his throat.

“Your Majesty, what is going on?”

“How much do you know?” Ten asked. Taeyong looked at him confused. “I’ll say not enough,” Ten mumbled. “Please listen to me carefully. And _please_ let me finish before you say anything,” Ten pleaded. Taeyong nodded silently, expecting. “I was there the day Johnny’s father died. As a matter of fact… _I_ killed him,” Taeyong’s eyes widened and he looked like he was going to interrupt which is why Ten hurried through his following statement, “I have no idea what happened, it was like I was blacked out and apparently I drowned him with the ocean and then I struck myself with lightning!” Taeyong glared at him. “Taeyong?”

“You drowned him in the ocean?” Taeyong asked.

“I drowned him _with_ the ocean,” Ten tried again. Taeyong looked at him and then at Johnny. Before anyone could say anything, Taeyong began to laugh hysterically. Tears streamed down his face as he complained he couldn’t breathe, laughing as if somebody was tickling his feet with a feather.

“You know, this is the best scenario of a reaction from him,” Johnny whispered to Ten who nodded.

“Taeyong,” Ten tried but Taeyong was still laughing hard. “Taeyong.” No response. Johnny grabbed Haechan’s journal and slid it over to Taeyong. Still giggling, Taeyong grabbed it and began to read it.

“Oh my gods,” he said, wiping away some tears. As he kept reading his face turned more serious and he frowned, “Oh my gods?”

“I can’t control _it,_ ” Ten began again. “Up until now it seems if I get heavily upset it just… I black out and things happen and I can’t do anything about it.” Taeyong looked at Ten and then at Johnny. This time even Jaehyun received a quick glance.

“Oh my gods,” Taeyong whispered again. He closed the journal and stood from his seat, walking in circles. “So we think you have been blessed by the god of water and storms,” Taeyong started. Everyone nodded. “And you killed his highness’ father,” he continued pointing at Johnny. “And Lee Donghyuck believes there might be others.” Silence. 

“What?” Johnny asked, looking at the journal. He hadn’t read the whole thing yet.

“Lee Donghyuck believes there’s others,” Taeyong replied. He opened the journal towards the end of the writing and pushed it forward to Johnny.

“That changes everything,” Johnny smiled.

“We believe my father might have known something,” Ten continued. “Maybe he left some books or anything?”

“If he did he didn’t leave anything at the library, that much I know,” Taeyong informed him. Ten nodded knowing Taeyong knew the library like the back of his hand. “You can go into his room, you know? There might be something there.” 

Ten knew he was right. He dreaded the idea of going into that room, though. He could hear the distant echo of his own crying. He could feel Johnny’s helplessness that night. He knew Taeyong was right but he wished he wasn’t. Silently, Ten stood from his seat and walked out. Johnny followed him and so did Jaehyun and Taeyong. Everyone silently marched towards Tanawat’s room and stopped in front of the grand doors. Ten took a deep breath and silently hoped he could find something. They walked into the room, eerily silent and organized. They began to rummage through drawers, under the bed and the pillows, in the closets and on the small desk by the window, but nothing. Ten felt his soul being snatched from his body for nothing. His heart hurt for nothing. His eyes became blurry behind tears for nothing. Until Johnny exclaimed, holding a piece of parchment.

Ten ran to him to take a look. It was a map scribbled with different colored ink. Red ink circled Rolham, a kingdom in the far northeast where a gigantic volcano was at the center of the kingdom. It had been dormant for centuries, Ten was told by his father. Which is why they had built their kingdom surrounding the mountain with the palace at the south. Next to it, Ten recognized his father’s writing. 

_“Child blessed by the god of fire.”_

On the top right corner of the map another writing, _“there are others”._

And on the bottom left a lengthier message: _“if the blessing awakens in him he must be trained before it consumes him. It has happened before. Lee library.”_

“Lee Library?” Taeyong asked, examining the map.

“Lee Donghyuck’s family,” Johnny answered. 

“He knew,” Ten gulped, “why didn’t he say anything?”

“Maybe he didn’t know what to say,” Johnny answered. Ten agreed.

“We should send a letter to Lee Donghyuck requesting a way to go to his home,” Ten added after a long pause. “We’ll rest here until he answers. And from there…” he sighed loudly, “we should head to Rolham.”

“Fun,” Johnny said sarcastically while Jaehyun groaned, rolling his eyes.

“What’s wrong with Rolham?” Taeyong asked, genuinely curious.

“They’re the ones who incited other kingdoms in the north to declare war against my home,” Johnny explained. 

“Oh,” Taeyong responded.

“Yes,” Johnny said while Ten grabbed his hand and gave it a kiss, “ _o_ _h."_


	11. Chapter 11

_Little brother who is about to become King but is still my little brother,_

_How are you? How are things going? I hope you’re doing okay. Sorry I had to leave such chaos in your hands. Ten is doing much better. I was berated by Taeyong as per usual. Jaehyun sleeps so much. And it is really hot here. We need your help. We need Donghyuck’s help. We need to access his family’s library. Is there a way this could happen?_

_Johnny_

Johnny hoped the response would come quickly. As he saw the servant leaving with the letter he felt a pang in his chest. He walked out of the room, carefully closing the large door behind him. He began to look around for Ten and was happy to find him back in the small meeting room from the day before. 

“Love!” Ten smiled gracefully extending an arm to him. Johnny walked over and grabbed the hand, giving Ten a soft kiss on his cheek and then another one on his lips. He sat by him, hand in hand. Taeyong sighed.

“You guys _could_ wait until you are alone, you know?” he muttered. Johnny smiled.

“No,” he responded simply. Taeyong rolled his eyes and continued his briefing. “We could bring your coronation date closer. That way you can leave things settled better before the trip. To make it to the Lee Manor it’d take five days. Rolham is a nine day trip from there. There are two kingdoms we can stop in through the trip. Both are allies to Rolham so I am guessing-” Taeyong stopped giving Johnny a soft awkward smile “- they’re probably your enemies. But not ours.”

“They’ll expect a decision from Ten,” Johnny said. “They’ll expect him to choose alliances. He could say he’s still their ally but having me around won’t help much. And I am guessing you still want to be an ally with Mark?” Ten nodded. “And if you call yourself neutral…”

“They’ll take it as you siding with Mark,” Taeyong finished.

“I wish I had an answer,” Johnny sighed.

“I am sure Mark will figure something out,” Taeyong offered. Johnny shrugged. “He has Lee Donghyuck on his side. Hopefully we can avoid any conversation regarding allegiances. How well do they know you?”

“Considering they were my kingdom’s allies for generations…” Johnny pouted, “They’ve known me my whole life. I studied a few months under the King of Rolham. I spent a few weeks in Eldeleigh learning sword fighting, archery in Meltzquer,” Johnny looked outside the window. “Every single one of the kingdoms shaped me into who I am. They’ll know who I am.”

“But if you’re coming with us,” Taeyong squinted, “you’d have to pledge an allegiance to Ten.”

“The pressure still falls fully on him?” Johnny asked, pointing at Ten who shrugged.

“It’s not an issue to me,” Ten started but Taeyong interrupted him.

“Do we have another option?” Taeyong asked, a bit frustrated. Nobody responded immediately. Finally, Ten spoke.

“We’ll figure it out once we get there. What is the worst that could happen?”

“They could try and have our heads on the spot, they could wage war against us-” Taeyong started but Ten shook his head. Johnny chuckled, catching up to him.

“Or he can drown them before they get the chance,” Johnny joked. Both him and Ten began to laugh.

“I fail to find that funny,” Taeyong squinted.

“Maybe I’ll strike them with lightning,” Ten giggled. Johnny snorted.

“You guys are hopeless,” Taeyong rolled his eyes. “While you guys figure yourselves out, I am going to start the packing process. We are going to need so much…” Taeyong stood and walked towards the door.   
“Taeyong,” Ten called. Taeyong turned around, both men had stopped laughing. They both looked at him with soft smiles. “Thank you.”

Taeyong left the room after courteously nodding. He started to make way to the kitchens to see how the preparation of food for the trip was going. On his way downstairs he found Jaehyun coming up, a plate full of pastries. 

“Are you going on the trip?” Taeyong asked. Jaehyun nodded.

“Of course. I am there to protect Johnny,” Jaehyun said proudly. Taeyong’s eyes widened.

“You don’t trust Chittaphon?” Jaehyun looked down. 

“I want to,” Jaehyun looked at Taeyong, “you weren’t there. No words can describe what we saw.”

“I’ll protect Chittaphon from anything. And anyone,” Taeyong warned.

“There’ll be no need,” Jaehyun smiled. “He’s more than capable of doing so himself. Even if by accident. And, like I said, I want to trust him. I don’t plan on harming him. Protecting Johnny to me is more like, I don’t know… pushing him away if Chittaphon accidentally is about to strike him with lightning.”

“He wouldn’t do that,” Taeyong rolled his eyes, “he loves him.”

“Emphasis on accidentally,” Jaehyun grabbed a bite of a cake, “he can’t control it yet. Isn’t that the whole reason we are doing this? To help him control it if he can’t get rid of it?”

“I guess,” Taeyong replied. 

“If he were able to control it,” Jaehyun said seriously, “it’ll be the most terrifying yet beautiful scene you could ever see.” Jaehyun smiled and continued walking. Taeyong looked confused but continued walking towards the kitchen trying not to give it much thought. All he wanted was for Ten to succeed. Whatever success meant at that point. 

“I don’t trust you,” Jaehyun smiled at Ten. Johnny looked shocked and when he was about to speak, Ten spoke. 

“I don’t blame you.”

“I figured it was best I was completely honest before we embarked on a trip that could last months,” Jaehyun said, eating a chocolate pastry. Johnny’s mouth was hanging. 

“I appreciate it,” Ten smiled. Jaehyun offered him a pastry which he happily took. He then offered Johnny but he shook his head.

“What is wrong with you?” Johnny asked. Jaehyun ignored him.

“I’m here to protect Johnny,” Jaehyun continued, looking at Ten who enjoyed his snack. 

“I am glad you are,” Ten stated. His smile never faltered.

“Hello?” Johnny tried but, again, was ignored.

“I don’t want to harm you,” Jaehyun continued.

“Could you?” Ten asked. Jaehyun shrugged. “I wonder if anyone can truly harm me right now.”

“Maybe someone who is also blessed?” Jaehyun asked. Ten nodded.

“Right!”

“What the hell is going on?” Johnny asked. Ten forced the rest of his pastry into Johnny’s mouth.

“We’ve known each other for years,” Jaehyun began. He played with his fingers and looked sad. “I know we will figure this out. I think I said it wrong,” he looked at Ten with glazed eyes, “I don’t trust whatever is _in_ you. Not while you can’t control it.”

“I know,” Ten replied. “I don’t trust it myself.” A melancholic silence fell upon the room. 

Jaehyun didn’t often share his feelings out loud. Johnny would usually read them in his face or his actions. But the rare instances Jaehyun did speak about what was going through his mind, it was difficult for Johnny to read anything else. His confusion finally drifted away once they remained in silence. He was finally able to read Jaehyun clearly. The mixed emotions in his best friend’s expression pained Johnny a bit. Jaehyun was sad and concerned. He was hopeful but was trying not to be. 

“Hopefully Mark answers soon,” Johnny cleared his throat. Everyone agreed.

“I’ll go take a nap in the meantime,” Jaehyun said, yawning. 

“I didn’t think you’d sleep so much?” Johnny questioned. Jaehyun chuckled.

“We’ll be traveling for a long time. And I didn’t get much of a chance back at home. I’ll get all the sleep I can,” Jaehyun said as he left the room. 

“Let him sleep,” Ten said as he stood up. Johnny followed and held Ten’s hand. He led him towards the large gardens at the southside of the castle. For a few minutes they were in silence, taking in the brisk breeze and feeling the warmth of the Sun. “That the god of water would bless a child from the desert,” Ten started, looking at Johnny, “isn’t that something?” Johnny nodded. “I wonder, where would I get enough water to protect this place if I were able to control it.”

“Use thunder instead,” Johnny offered. Ten jokingly pushed him.

“They’ll wage war against us,” Ten gulped. “There is no way they won’t.” They walked towards a small path that led to a staircase. In the end there was a hill that looked over the town. “There are too many of them. Even if we join forces with Mark it’d be bloody and difficult.”

“We have you,” Johnny tried. Ten shook his head.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to control this before then,” Ten remarked. “What then?”

“It’s a bridge we’ll cross if we get to it,” Johnny affirmed. Ten nodded and laid his head against Johnny’s chest. Johnny hugged him. 

“I am moving my coronation up to tomorrow. We’ll do it simple, and send letters to everyone apologizing and promising a proper celebration at a later time,” Ten sighed. “Once it’s done we’ll go. And-” he stopped, turning around to face Johnny, “-I’ll publicly announce our engagement too.”

“That will definitely get us killed in the Northern kingdoms,” Johnny blurted. Ten’s eyes crinkled at the corners, pulling Johnny towards him for a soft peck. “Or they’ll wage war against you before we even make it there.”

“I’m not hiding us,” Ten shrugged. 

“You’ll be the King,” Johnny kissed him again. 

“That I will be,” Ten replied, resting his forehead against Johnny’s. He softly caressed Johnny’s face, his hands delicately drawing lines and circles on Johnny’s skin. Johnny kept his eyes closed which Ten appreciated because he didn’t want to explain why he looked sad. _I feel like our forever isn’t as long as we wish for,_ Ten thought, fighting the tears welling up in his eyes, _I’m sorry if it isn’t._

  
  


Ten was unable to sleep that night. Hours went by and all he could do was roll around bed. He didn’t understand how Johnny could sleep through him moving so much but he guessed that’s why he stopped cuddling him half an hour after getting into bed. Johnny’s soft snoring would usually lull Ten to sleep but not then. Any time he closed his eyes for a bit longer than a blink, he could see flashing. He could see Johnny’s late father, angrily staring down at him, shouting at him. But Ten couldn’t hear him. All he could hear was the far sound of lightning after striking and the silence that only happens under the water. He realized there was water keeping Johnny’s father outside. Ten felt like he was in a bubble. And as soon as Ten would feel peace like never before the scene would change, he commanded the water to take Johnny’s father away so he wouldn’t hurt them anymore, he panicked when he saw the body being drifted away and a lightning struck his arm. The last image he’d see would be Johnny’s face as he tried to reach him but was held back by knights as Ten’s vision blurred away. He couldn’t stop feeling like his dream was real. He could hear the screaming, the violent waves, the thunder, his own bones cracking as his arm almost completely fell off his body. He felt the rain and, what haunted him the most, was being so close to Johnny yet so far. He’d open his eyes, erratically breathing, looking at his side to make sure Johnny was still there. He wondered why. Why did he have that dream over and over? Why did it feel so real? Ten got closer to Johnny and hugged him tightly. He tried to not fall asleep so he wouldn’t bother the other. But at midnight he gave up and was finally able to fall asleep dreaming of absolutely nothing.

When morning came around, Ten was surprised by a pillow being thrown at his face. 

“Wake up!” Johnny belted, uncharacteristically excited first thing in the morning. “Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!”

“What?” Ten groaned, beginning to understand why Johnny, usually, would want to kick him out of the room to sleep for a bit longer. He had a pounding headache and his body was hurting all over. 

“Mark wrote back,” Johnny replied, jumping on the bed and sitting by Ten. “He must’ve sent someone overnight. A servant slid it under the door. Let’s read it!”

“Read it aloud,” Ten whined. 

“ _Brother,”_ Johnny mimicked Mark’s voice. Ten tried to remain serious to show his annoyance at being awakened so early but he couldn’t help but snort, “wow, I was so loving in my greeting and he just… writes ‘brother’? He is so ungrateful,” Johnny complained. He continued to read the letter, still mimicking Mark’s voice, _“Haechan says you guys should start to head over to his place. We’ll both meet you there. Things are going as well as they could be. People questioned why you weren’t at our father’s funeral service. I had to ensure nobody outside the castle knew about Chittaphon. I have barely slept in days. I am trying to move up my own coronation so I can begin to properly make decisions. I want to meet with the royals on the Northern kingdoms. I want to also meet with the people from the Isles. I can’t do much as just the sudden new heir to the throne. I need the title and the influence. I need access to everything. I need time and I need to know who is truly on my side.”_ Johnny stopped. Ten frowned.

“What is it?” he finally raised his head. 

“Do you see this?” Johnny asked, pointing next to the last words he said out loud where Mark tried to hide the words with a sharp line. _I need Haechan._

“I am pretty sure,” Ten said, sitting, “it says that he needs Donghyuck?” 

“Is he asking for my help on that? He could’ve written a new letter! Or he could have hidden it better!” Johnny grinned. Ten smiled softly.

“He knows he has Haechan, the boy never leaves his side,” Ten said as he read the rest of the letter which was Mark wishing them safe travels. 

“He knows Haechan will help him no matter what,” Johnny explained, “I don’t think this is about that. Do you think he’s finally realizing what we have all known already for years?”

“That’d be wonderful,” Ten said, sounding a bit more awake. “What time is it?”

“The Sun hasn’t been up that long,” Johnny responded, looking at the letter beaming.

“Taeyong will be here soon,” Ten groaned. He wanted to sleep longer. 

“Why?” Johnny asked.

“Coronation, remember?”

“Right,” Johnny said, folding the letter and letting it fall off his side of the bed. He pulled Ten towards him, sitting him on his lap. He began to brush Ten’s hair off his face and forehead with his fingers. Ten closed his eyes, a tender grin on his lips as he followed Johnny’s hand with his head. Johnny stared at him lovingly, hoping he could capture the way the Sun made Ten glow then, with a translucent shirt that delicately laid on his body but didn’t cover anything at all. He hoped he could always remember the way roaming his hands down to let them rest on Ten’s thighs made Ten’s breathing slower. “Ten,” Johnny whispered. Ten straightened his head and opened his eyes, warmly looking at Johnny. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Ten whispered.

“You will be a great king,” Johnny said. Ten mouthed his gratitude. “I’ll be by your side, always. Every step of the way until the end.” Ten grabbed Johnny’s right hand and brought it to his cheek. He let out a shaky breath before he pleaded;

“Please be."


	12. Chapter 12

Ten stood in front of a large mirror in his room. He looked at his face and he barely recognized the man in front of him. He looked older, exhausted, and powerful. Johnny knelt by him fixing the ends of his pants, muttering low complaints about the fit. When he felt satisfied with them, Johnny grabbed Ten’s boots and helped him put them on, right one first. He then stood in front of Ten who, at the lack of his own image, looked up. 

“You are handsome when concentrated,” Ten smiled. Johnny smiled back but remained silent as he fixed the buttons on Ten’s black long sleeve shirt and made sure the frills weren’t wrinkled. He patted Ten’s shoulder and gave him a quick kiss before he went to grab a comb. Ten’s hair was wet and Johnny combed through it leaving just a few locks on Ten’s forehead and brushing the rest of it to the back. When he was done he stopped for a moment contemplating his work on the mirror. He placed his hands on Ten’s shoulders and remained there for a moment just staring. Finally, he took a deep breath and kissed Ten’s left cheek before walking over to the window where Ten’s mantle hung. He grabbed the piece and placed it on Ten’s shoulders, slowly buckling the front with a gold button with Ten’s house crest. The velvet burgundy of the cape with gold chains on its shoulders went well with Ten’s all black outfit. Johnny made sure the train was fixed and laying extended on the floor. He took a few steps back and, finally, spoke.

“You are so beautiful,” he almost choked on his words as Ten slightly turned around with a wide grin.

“You made me so,” Ten tried but Johnny shook his head.

“No, that’s all you.” 

Ten reached to Johnny who grabbed his hand and promptly gave it a kiss. Johnny hoped that Ten wouldn’t notice the way his body was shaking and his lips trembled. And Ten knew he hoped this so he made no mention of it. The coronation was the last of their concerns, with Ten announcing their engagement right after. It all seemed so normal, and it would have been, if they ignored the large cart full of food, weapons, and a few changes of clothes waiting for them at the stables; a sign they would be away for longer than a few weeks, a sign of a trip that reminded them that Johnny’s life would be in danger as soon as they left the Lee Manor, a trip that reminded them that there was something in Ten that was not normal and they had absolutely no idea what would bring. Ten looked down remembering that the reason he was wearing the royal mantle then was because his father was gone. 

A series of knocks on the door cut through the silence in the room. Johnny went and opened the door to reveal a dressed up Taeyong walking in and gasping in awe.

“You’re looking great, Your Highness,” Taeyong said smiling.

“Thank you. You as well,” Ten replied.

“You did a good job,” Taeyong told Johnny, forgetting how annoyed he felt when he was kicked out of the room earlier in the morning when he tried to get Ten ready. Johnny nodded proudly. “It’s time,” Taeyong announced. “I’ll wait for you two down at the grand room.”

“See you there,” Ten said as Taeyong closed the door behind him. “Let’s go?” Johnny offered his arm and Ten held on to it. “This is all completely different from how I imagined it,” Ten mumbled. “I thought it’d be a grand whole weekend party. People from all around would come over. Royals would party until they forgot they were royals themselves,” Ten chuckled. “You would’ve already been my husband.” Silence. “No powerful blessings from the gods. Just simple, human me becoming King.”

“You are still you,” Johnny said as they reached the doors of the grand room. 

“Am I?” Ten asked. He shuffled a bit. Johnny sighed and grabbed Ten’s face and kissed him.

“Do you still love me?” Johnny asked.

“What kind of question is that?” Ten argued. Johnny kissed him again.

“Answer me,” Johnny insisted.

“Yes, I love you,” Ten answered.

“Do you love your kingdom?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you miss your father?” Ten nodded in response. “Is chocolate cake still your favorite?”

“What does that have to do with any-” Johnny interrupted him with another kiss though this one was rougher.

“Ten, I swear, just answer the damned questions,” Johnny growled. Ten bit his lower lip partly scared of making Johnny madder and partly wondering how far he could push him before they had to be surrounded by a few people where Johnny wouldn’t be able to properly react. He shook his head and decided that’d be entertainment for another time.

“Yes, it’s still my favorite.”

“Do you still love the sea?” Ten’s smile faded as he felt his heart drop. He thought about it for a moment while closing his eyes. His first thought was his recent nightmares, the waves violently crashing against land. But then he felt warmth, just like the one he’d feel when the Sun shone on his skin and he could hear the waves calming down becoming almost a lullaby. He swore he could feel sand and water on his feet. He opened his eyes and looked at Johnny who patiently waited in front of him.

“Is it bad if I say I still do?” Ten asked. He felt that his fear was more about how he couldn’t control whatever was inside him than the water itself. Johnny smiled.

“No, it’s not bad,” Johnny kissed him again. Ten’s heart fluttered at how soft Johnny’s lips felt against his, his entire body weight feeling light as Johnny held him. “You are still  _ you. _ ” Ten nodded turning to face the door again, convinced that if he had Johnny with him nothing would ever go wrong. They opened the doors and walked in, advisors and members of Ten’s cabinet standing on the sides of the room, curtsying as Ten walked by. Johnny went and stood by Taeyong who made space for him close to the throne. A priest walked up to Ten and gave him a gold sceptre with rubies on the top and a matching orb. Ten held them while sitting on his throne.

“It is the most noble work imposed on one man,” the priest began his ceremony, “to lead and protect thousands. Today we are witnesses to Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul’s claim of this responsibility and promise. And so, I must ask if you, Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul, promise to uphold the values of the royal crown that will be placed upon your head, symbol of your power and responsibility to the people of these lands of Elisfen; do you promise to act only in the best interest of your people, will you honor them and the ancient seat in which you sit today until the day you perish?”

“I promise and I will,” Ten responded loudly and clearly. The priest grabbed a crown that laid on a cushion on a pillar next to Ten and held it over his head. Ten vowed his head forward.

“It is by the power of the gods that today I stand here and proclaim you, Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul, Your Royal Majesty King of Elisfer.” The priest placed the crown upon Ten’s head and vowed in front of him. He then stood on the side and Ten stood from his seat while everyone in the room clapped loudly. Some cheers were heard but Johnny’s overpowered them. Ten sat back down and gave the sceptre and orb to the priest. Ten during royal functions was one of Johnny’s favorite facets of the man he loved most. The way Ten managed to look serious yet always had a hint of a warm smile on his face, his voice would command respect but was also calming… just what Johnny needed then as he played with his fingers nervously.

“I thank you all for being here as witnesses of a day I have been preparing for my whole life,” Ten began. “It is definitely a different ceremony than the one we always planned for but this just makes it more special. I also wanted to have you all here so that I could make a few announcements. First, I want to express my gratitude to all of you for serving my late father until his last breath. I know each of you my whole life and I look forward to all of your help during my reign,” Ten paused momentarily. Many of the men sighed in relief knowing they wouldn’t be replaced. “I hope that your experience will be such that you can keep everything under control for a few months while I travel.”

“Your Majesty,” an advisor was heard saying but Ten raised his hand.

“Please. The details of this trip have been prepared. It is of utmost importance and for the wellbeing of our people that I do this. I have more questions than answers so I can’t really explain, and I apologize. Just trust that I am doing this for everyone just as I trust you will be able to manage everything during my absence.” Ten flashed a smile. He was lucky every person in that room saw him grow up and felt an emotional connection to him. They were all in charge of educating him in various aspects of his job while he grew up so one could argue they all knew him well. “My last announcement… I want to inform all of you that when I come back from this trip I will begin preparations for my wedding,” Johnny took a deep breath, unsure of how they would take the news. 

“With who?” a man Johnny didn’t recognize asked. 

“I will be marrying His Royal Highness Prince Johnny Suh of Gerldrel,” Johnny noticed how the hint of a smile was nowhere to be found on Ten’s face. He had a dangerous gaze, unwavering as he looked at every man in front of him. It was as if he was daring anyone to say anything negative about it. He was able to breathe properly and sigh in relief when the men responded with joy and excitement, congratulating the both of them, some even mentioning Ten’s father being proud of him. This time the smile was wide on Ten’s face as he thanked people for their support. “I will be leaving today in the evening.”

Between wishes of safe travels and promises that the kingdom was in good hands, everyone began to scurry away except for Johnny, Taeyong, Jaehyun, and Ten.

“I should go change,” Ten said as he touched the fabric on his mantle. Everyone agreed they all should and went their separate directions, Johnny following Ten to his quarters. Ten began to undress while Johnny sat at the end of the bed.

“They took it better than I expected,” Johnny mentioned. Ten hummed.

“You are accustomed to your court back in Gerdrel, Love,” Ten mentioned. Johnny nodded. “I had no doubt they’d be supportive. I expected them to be questioning the trip which they did. All in all, it went according to what I expected.” Ten turned around to look at Johnny who just stared at him adoringly. “What?”

“When will be the next time it’s just you and I?” Johnny asked as he walked towards Ten who had just put on his pants.

“No, absolutely not, we have to go,” Ten said sternly but Johnny didn’t care.

“I say we make them wait, they’ll be fine.”

“Have you met Taeyong? He’ll be the opposite of fine,” Ten complained. Still, Johnny noticed how he held tightly onto a shirt, not bothering to put it on.

“I don’t care,” Johnny whispered on Ten’s ears, sending chills down his spine. “Just five minutes.”

“If you’re only giving me five minutes, I’m sending you back to Gerdrel,” Ten scoffed. Johnny rolled his eyes and grabbed him, ignoring the complaints and dropping Ten on his bed. 

“Brat,” Johnny smirked as he went down and began to kiss Ten’s neck, earning loud giggles that made him wish they’d never have to leave that room again.

“Where were you?” Taeyong asked as Ten and Johnny approached the stables. 

“Don’t ask them that,” Jaehyun sighed as he grabbed a bag Johnny was carrying. 

“Are you okay?” Taeyong asked Ten who just nodded yawning. “Why are you limping?”

“Oh my gods,” Jaehyun said exasperated, “are you serious right now?”

“He hurt him!” Taeyong protested at Jaehyun who snorted.

“No, he liked it,” Johnny put his hands up, earning a light punch from Ten.

“How dare you?” Taeyong questioned.

“I have an idea,” Jaehyun said as he opened the carriage’s door, “Taeyong you should sit with me in the front to help me with the reins.”

“You shouldn’t need any help with the reins,” Taeyong rolled his eyes.

“I will also explain to you  _ why  _ there is no need to fight Johnny.” Taeyong looked at him curiously. He shrugged and helped Ten up to his seat. Johnny joined right after somehow avoiding Taeyong’s murderous glare. 

They began their journey while Jaehyun tried his best not to laugh at the way Taeyong’s face morphed from anger to concern and then just pure disgust. He looked like he was about to jump off and walk all the way back to the palace but he didn’t. Instead, he just covered his face with his hands and shouted into the carriage, “Seriously? Right before a days long trip?”

“Yeah, why not?” Johnny shouted from inside.

“I  _ will  _ murder you one day,” Taeyong hissed while Johnny and Ten laughed loudly inside and Jaehyun smugly smiled looking froward to their path.

“You know, it is the most natural thing in the world,” Jaehyun giggled, “one day you’ll find one of your own.”

“You shut your whore mouth,” Taeyong spat making Jaehyun laugh harder, “and even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you anything.”

“You won’t need to,” Jaehyun said breathing deeply, “bet they will be able to mark that skin of yours worse than Johnny does Ten’s.”

“I hate you so much!” Taeyong screamed flustered covering his neck with his hands, muttering curses at Jaehyun who just kept laughing and teasing him. 

“This is going to be a long trip,” Johnny mumbled while drawing circles on Ten’s arm. 

“What are you talking about, they get along great!” Ten joked. 

“It almost makes me feel bad,” Johnny said.

“Why?” Ten asked.

“I couldn’t promise Jaehyun he’d see his person ever again,” Johnny said sadly, “he won’t say it but I can see it how it pains him.”

“Then we’ll make sure he can go back to him,” Ten smiled. 

“How did you know it was a man?” Johnny wondered out loud. Ten snorted.

“He just went into detail about our bedroom activities. That was the voice of experience, Love,” Ten chuckled. Ten yawned again, night falling upon them. Ten noticed Taeyong lighting up a couple of lamps on the front of the carriage. 

“You can sleep,” Johnny said as he brought Ten closer. Ten nodded, placing his head on Johnny’s chest and falling asleep almost immediately. Johnny kissed his head and closed his own eyes, the sound of the wheels against the dirt path and Ten’s scent helping lulling him to sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

“Alright, love birds, wake up!” Taeyong shouted, opening the door to the carriage. Johnny groaned loudly while Ten chuckled softly, brushing Johnny’s hair with his fingers.

“Sorry, Love,” Ten whispered while he pulled himself away from Johnny’s embrace. He jumped off and found himself staring at a river where Jaehyun was washing his face while Taeyong grabbed some water in jugs. Ten breathed in deeply, the fresh air cool enough to make him shiver. The noise of the water against the rocks was calming. They were surrounded by trees on both sides of the river, much taller than the trees in the forest between Gerdrel and Elisfer. The wind, however, moved the branches enough for the Sun to be able to shine through. The place was peaceful and Ten appreciated it until Taeyong began to curse Jaehyun who tried to walk away in the water still.

“Does he really have to come with us?” Taeyong asked, walking back to Ten, his clothes and face completely drenched. He gave Ten a jug of water which Ten began to drink happily.

“Yes,” Ten responded, “I think he has to come with us.”

“Lee Manor is close enough to Gerdrel we can drop him there,” Taeyong whined. Ten shrugged.

“We are not getting rid of him, Taeyong, get used to it.” Taeyong sighed loudly. “You know,” Ten mumbled, “I think I know what’s going on.”

“What’s that?”

“You forgot what it’s like to have fun,” Ten responded. Taeyong gasped, offended. “Hear me out! You have been taught by my father’s advisors and teachers. You have been working for our kingdom since you were still a child. While Jaehyun over there-” Ten pointed at Jaehyun who was sitting in the water, splashing it around “-is like a child in the body of a grown knight. He’s energetic, optimistic in a way and… he’d give his life up to keep Johnny safe… just like you would give up yours for me.” Ten looked at Taeyong who was looking into the forest, pensive. “You two are more similar than you give him credit for. I think you could be great friends if you only-”

“Let him mess with me?” Taeyong spat. Ten laughed.

“Sure!”

“I’m going to grab some wood to make a fire,” Taeyong announced, placing the other jugs by Ten’s feet. “I’m hungry.”

“That’d also explain why you’re so annoyed so early in the day,” Ten mumbled.

“I heard that!” Taeyong said as he walked away, not bothering to turn around. Ten laughed.

Taeyong mumbled angrily, kicking a rock while walking deeper into the forest. As he kept going forward, he couldn’t hear the river anymore and realized it was colder and darker. He began to grab a few branches he found on the floor and tried to rip some bark from the trees. He stopped when he heard some branches and leaves moving, even though there was no wind. He slowly looked around but found nothing. All he could hear was his shaky breath and the sound of his heart pounding against his chest.

“I should’ve brought a sword,” Taeyong whispered as he grabbed more wood. “What good is it doing to me back in the carriage?” the leaves rustled again and Taeyong looked to his left side, gasping in horror.

* * *

“He’s taken a bit too long,” Ten said worried while looking into the direction Taeyong had left. Jaehyun sat by him drinking water.

“He’ll be fine.”

“Who?” Johnny asked groggily as he jumped off the carriage.

“Good morning!” Jaehyun cheered. Johnny rolled his eyes and walked over to Ten, dropping and laying his head on Ten’s thighs. Ten kissed him and began to play with his hair.

“Taeyong left to grab wood but it’s been a while,” Ten repeated. Johnny hummed.

“He’ll be fine,” Johnny tried to comfort Ten. Luckily for Ten, he was able to see a shadow coming closer from within the forest. He smiled but it faded away quickly as he frowned in confusion when the shadows turned into two. He was able to see Taeyong clearly first, carrying a bunch of wood. 

“Hello, guys!” Taeyong exclaimed with a grin. Johnny sat straight squinting at him while Jaehyun was about to point out he was _not_ that cheerful just a few hours prior. He dropped the wood by them. “Let’s start the fire!”

Behind Taeyong was somebody else. The man was covered in a large hooded cape made of wolf fur. His face was also covered half way, only showing his sharp eyes and a few strands of silver hair. He silently bowed to them and sat on the opposite side.

“Who’s that?” Ten asked while Taeyong began to set the wood.

“A friend,” Taeyong said casually.

“You have friends?” Jaehyun asked and Taeyong rolled his eyes sticking his tongue out at him.

“For your information, I do,” Taeyong replied. After he lit the fire he walked over to the carriage where he had some bread while the man opened up his cape a bit and took a large piece of raw meat out.

“What’s your name?” Ten asked curiously as he handed the man a piece of fabric to lay the meat on. He couldn’t help but notice his delicate hands and how his left one had a scar that seemed to go up his arm.

“I’m sorry for being rude,” the man started with a melodious sweet voice neither of them expected from the way he looked he could murder with just a glare, “my name is Yuta.”

“Yuta? Sounds familiar,” Johnny said as he grabbed a stick for himself and one for Ten.

“It’s a common name,” Yuta explained.

“Really?” Johnny asked, still trying to figure out where he had heard the name before.

“Really,” Yuta growled. Johnny took this as a warning to stop asking questions. 

“Why is your knife covered in blood?” Jaehyun questioned as Yuta began to lay things off on the floor. Yuta sighed.

“When I was retrieving wood, a wild animal was about to attack me when Yuta here jumped out of nowhere and saved me,” Taeyong explained as he began to cut the raw meat and pass it around for everyone to stick it and start cooking. “Yuta here has been traveling alone for a bit and I asked him to join us for breakfast as a thank you for saving me. Any other questions?” Taeyong asked, a bit frustrated. Everyone shook their heads and began to cook their food.

“Are you going anywhere in particular?” Johnny asked, trying to be friendly. Yuta shook his head.

“Just wherever I find myself, really,” Yuta answered. He sounded a bit more comfortable. When his food was cooked completely he uncovered his face. There was silence, only interrupted by the fire crackling and the wind blowing. “There’s more of it if you guys want to look,” Yuta said after taking a bite. Running up from the left side of his neck to the corner of his mouth was a scar, similar to the one Ten noticed on his hand. Could it really be the same scar running all the way to his face? Ten took a bite of his own food and looked at Johnny who quickly shared a glance with him. Jaehyun awkwardly looked at the fire. They all seemed to be in their own bubbles, including Taeyong who tried to eat a piece of bread but couldn’t keep going. He was pushing himself to look at the ground, to ignore the way his stomach flipped and his heart dropped while he felt his entire body burning up. He hoped he wasn’t sick, it’d be troublesome to get sick especially in the beginning of their journey. His lips trembled a bit and his fingers were also shaking while he tried to redirect his thoughts. But he couldn’t help himself much when the first thing he thought once Yuta uncovered his face was _“beautiful”_ and he wondered if the other could read his mind. He was also concerned and furious that somebody dared to hurt him. Taeyong felt a sharp pain right in his chest where his heart was when Yuta let his hood down and showed his silver hair tied up in a messy bun, wild strands of hair freely laying on his shoulders. He felt some tears welling up in his eyes but he attributed it to the wind blowing right in his face and not to whatever was causing him such discomfort.

“It’d be useful to have somebody who isn’t afraid of wild animals with us,” Johnny pointed out. Ten nodded looking at Yuta.

“Yeah, a good hunter would be useful,” Ten mentioned. Yuta’s eyes widened in confusion.

“Are you asking me to join you all?” he asked, frowning.

“Is there anything else you need to do?” Johnny asked. Yuta shook his head.

“Where are you guys even going?”

“Lots of places,” Ten answered. “All over.”

“And by that vague response I assume you don’t want to be questioned as to why?” Yuta inquired. Ten nodded. “Fair enough.”

“So, what do you say?” Ten insisted. 

“If everyone agrees then I guess I could join for a bit… make sure you all don’t starve,” Yuta responded. Ten and Johnny looked at each other, no need for words as they could read in each other’s faces that they felt comfortable bringing a total stranger with them. Johnny couldn’t pinpoint why, but Yuta reminded him of someone and he could feel he was no threat to them. Ten sensed the comfort in Johnny which allowed him to feel comfortable as well. They both looked at Jaehyun who was happily eating.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine with me,” Jaehyun said, mouth still full. He swallowed and continued, “Just know if you try and pull any funny business, I’ll kill you.”

“That’s fair,” Yuta told him.

“It’ll be nice to be able to eat this good often,” Jaehyun said after finishing his meal. 

“Taeyong?” Ten whispered. Four pairs of eyes stared at him. He opened his mouth, unsure. Yuta stared at him intensely and Taeyong wished he could hide somewhere. He suddenly felt self conscious, was there food on his face? Was his shirt dirty? Properly buttoned up?

“Sure,” Taeyong found himself saying, feeling like it was out of his control. Everyone cheered and Taeyong felt himself melting when Yuta flashed him a smile. Taeyong had never seen such a perfect smile in his life.

They continued to sit by the fire, Jaehyun telling some stories of his time training to become a knight while Ten cuddled up to Johnny who would shake him every time he’d laugh at Jaehyun’s antics, which was every few minutes. Yuta was also laughing and it was his booming laugh what cracked Taeyong who allowed himself to smile softly and even giggle sometimes at some of Jaehyun’s most idiotic moments. Of course he’d get wasted the night before his swearing in ceremony and barely made it. Taeyong really wondered how he became a knight.

It was midday when they decided they had to keep going. Taeyong put the fire away while Ten and Johnny jumped in the carriage again. Jaehyun made his way to his seat and grabbed one of the reins while Yuta stood by the horse. He insisted he’d walk next to them and, if they were to go faster, then he’d consider sitting somewhere. Taeyong took his place next to Jaehyun again and, after making sure everybody was ready, Jaehyun ordered the horse to get going. Taeyong never thought Jaehyun could speak _so damned much_ but Yuta kept asking questions about him and Jaehyun somehow managed to make him laugh with every answer and Taeyong rolled his eyes so many times he wished he could kick Jaehyun off and drive the carriage himself. He’d often forget the feeling whenever he heard Yuta laughing hard enough he had to hold his own belly and wipe tears from his face, gasping for air. Jaehyun wasn’t even that funny!

Inside, Ten and Johnny remained in silence for a while listening to Jaehyun speak. 

“I really can’t shake this feeling that I know him,” Johnny whispered. Ten looked at him curiously. “I just don’t know from where.”

“Maybe he just reminds you of someone,” Ten offered. Johnny shrugged.

“Maybe.” Johnny placed his legs on the seat in front of him. “Does Taeyong look a bit sickly to you?” Ten snorted.

“Love, Taeyong is not sick,” Ten assured him.

“He looked weird,” Johnny insisted. Ten pulled him closer for a soft kiss. When he pushed him away he began to play with the strings on the top of his shirt.

“Maybe you forgot, because it’s been years,” Ten started with a small smile on his face, “but I looked exactly the way he does when I realized I liked you.”

“What?” Johnny asked and Ten sighed.

“He likes Yuta. Except it looks like he is about to pass out because I don’t think he has ever liked anyone before,” Ten explained. Johnny gasped.

“Oh!”

“I bet you he thinks the food was bad,” Ten joked. 

“How did you figure it out?”

“He thought nobody was paying attention to the way he blushed so much it truly seemed like a fever. But what a coincidence that he did so when Yuta uncovered his face. He grabbed his own shirt, like he was in pain when Yuta let down his hood. And when we asked him if it was okay for Yuta to join us, he blurted his answer.”

“And?”

“Taeyong never blurts an answer, he’s always methodical and careful!” Ten whispered yet it was obvious he was exasperated. Johnny nodded.

“This is his first crush,” Johnny said, pouting. Ten nodded and laughed.

“It’s rough. The guy is really handsome. To make it past adulthood and having your first crush on someone that looks like _that,_ ” Ten started but Johnny grabbed his face and turned it to him.

“What did you just say?” Johnny hissed. Ten smirked but quickly changed his expression.

“What?” Ten asked sweetly, batting his eyes knowing Johnny wouldn’t believe his act of innocence.

“Don’t play me, Ten,” Johnny sneered, pulling him for a demanding kiss where he bit Ten’s lower lip so hard he drew blood. Ten moaned in his mouth and hissed when he tasted the blood.

“Oh come on, you don’t do that when you know we can’t move forward,” Ten whined.

“Don’t test me,” Johnny said, cleaning the blood from Ten’s chin. “I don’t care if they hear.” Ten’s eyes widened and he turned to look at Johnny who looked back at him raising an eyebrow. Ten blushed and shook his head, hiding his face against Johnny’s chest who looked out the window again smugly.

* * *

The days went by with no major events. Yuta consistently hunted food for everyone and Taeyong would help cook it. When they finally made it to Lee Manor, they were greeted by a beaming Haechan and an exhausted yet excited Mark, who ran towards the carriage before it had stopped. Johnny hugged his brother tightly, messing his hair in the process. Haechan asked his butler to make sure there was food ready and everyone walked in enthusiastically. Haechan looked at Yuta curiously but remained silent while Mark explained to Johnny how things had been going.

“Arlene sends her love,” Mark said and Johnny smiled widely. 

“Is she okay?”

“Oh she’s wonderful. No matter what I do or say she won’t rest,” Mark said. “Can I get some potatoes?” Mark requested. Haechan nodded, grabbing the bowl in front of him and passing it to Mark. Johnny tilted his head and looked at Mark smugly when he noticed their fingers touched, and it seemed on purpose considering it lasted a bit longer than it probably should’ve. He made a mental note to make sure to ask Mark at some point, to figure out _why_ he was hiding the way his ears turned as red as the tomatoes in their meal. Or why was Haechan suddenly quiet staring at his plate with a smile. Or _why_ was Mark wearing a necklace that Johnny noticed matched Haechan’s. And, was he crazy, or his brother’s lips were swollen?

“So once we’re done here,” Ten interrupted Johnny’s thoughts, noticing Johnny seemed suspicious of something, “we want to take a look at your library.”

“Sure,” Haechan said happily, “is there something specific you are looking for?”

“Not sure,” Ten admitted. Haechan nodded.

“Well, whatever it is I bet it’s there.”

“How can you be so sure?” Yuta asked, even though he didn’t know exactly why they were there. He just wanted to join the conversation.

“The Lee library is famous for holding almost every single book written. Ever,” Taeyong responded, his eyes full of wonder, “I’ve always wanted to visit it!”

“It’s the reason the manor is so big,” Haechan continued giggling at how Taeyong looked so eager to leave the dining table and head over to the library. “Most of it is the library.”

“Three whole levels of it!” Taeyong continued. “The level in the basement is so large it extends beyond the confines of the house itself.”

“Which is why we own so much land even though the manor isn’t that large,” Haechan continued. He kept eating when he noticed Yuta wasn’t really paying attention to him. He was too focused smiling at Taeyong who continued ecstatically speaking about the library.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this excited,” Ten whispered. Johnny laughed.

“Well, it seems we are all almost done. Let’s eat so we can get to it,” Johnny announced. Everyone agreed and continued eating until their plates were empty. Haechan was the first one to stand up, followed by Mark who unconsciously walked closer to him. Ten pinched Johnny to stay quiet when he noticed Johnny looked like he wanted to tease Mark for it. Taeyong was already at the door when he realized he didn’t know where he was heading so he waited on Haechan. 

The entrance to the library wasn’t far. They had to walk through a small hall that led them to the main entrance and continued forward until they found a small door. It didn’t look like much, but once they opened it Taeyong walked inside and gasped loudly.

“This place is amazing!” he shouted, walking around. They first found themselves in an area that looked like a small room full of gadgets Taeyong had never seen before. Once they continued walking they saw the tall shelves stacked with books to the top. Taeyong giggled and kept walking followed by Yuta who was looking around in awe as well.

“So, what are we looking for?” Haechan asked. Ten took the map they had found at his father’s room and gave it to him. He took a look and hummed. “If we have anything on this, it’d be in the basement. There is a whole section about the gods down there.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Johnny asked. Haechan nodded and began leading them. Ten called Taeyong back so he could go to the basement with them. They couldn’t see him but they could hear the loud cheer coming closer to them as he ran back.


	14. Chapter 14

It seemed like they had spent endless hours in the Lee library’s basement. They sat on the floor close to a tall shelf where Haechan indicated that all books regarding myths and the gods were in. The lack of windows and the fact that most light was provided by torches offered an opportunity for Johnny, Jaehyun, Yuta, Mark, and Taeyong, though begrudgingly, to fall asleep. Ten and Haechan continued skimming through volumes of written work to the point they were starting to feel dizzy but couldn’t stop. After a while Haechan sighed and shut a book a bit louder than he intended, clearly frustrated.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, loud enough for only Ten to hear. “It’s just so much information and none of it seems to be helpful at all.”

“It’s okay,” Ten tried to appease him. “I didn’t expect to find all the answers here. Just a starting point.”

“What is your plan?” Haechan questioned. Ten put aside the book he held, caressing Johnny’s hair who rested his head on Ten’s lap.

“We figured we’d travel around, see if we can find other blessed children,” Ten started. “Or people who might’ve known and helped blessed children before.”

“That is a good plan,” Haechan smiled.

“It’s a vague plan is what it is,” Ten replied frustrated. “But I’ll do anything,” he looked down, his expression softening, “for him I’ll do anything.”

“Yeah,” Haechan agreed, looking next to him where Mark slept while holding an open book on his chest, “I understand the feeling.” Ten smiled. For a moment he wished he could wake Johnny up to look at the scene unfolding in front of him: Mark sitting next to Haechan, eyes closed, head slightly tilted towards him while wearing a matching necklace he couldn’t hide at the moment. It clicked to Ten, then, that perhaps there was something he could do for them after all.

“Come with us,” Ten requested. Haechan looked at him eyes wide.

“What?”

“The both of you, come with us,” Ten repeated. “We will be visiting kingdoms Mark needs to try and make amends at anyway. And you can help him. And us, with your knowledge. Not to mention you guys would be spending a lot of time together without advisors or knights… it’s just your friends.” Haechan contemplated for a moment. Ten didn’t push him.

“He wouldn’t be opposed,” Haechan said as he turned to look at Mark again. “He has been restless since you guys left. He hopes he can avoid this war. He hopes we can figure you out, too.” Ten nodded. “I’ll talk to him when we wake up,” Haechan decided. He smiled at Ten. “Thank you for offering.” Ten shook his head.

“Thank you for considering it.”

“I’ll continue reading tomorrow,” Haechan yawned. He almost immediately closed his eyes and fell asleep. Ten followed feeling a bit awkward he was the only one awake, a sudden wave of exhaustion rushing through him. He was pleased to find himself dreaming about Johnny rather than memories of the day when everything changed.

When morning came, Mark and Haechan were the first ones to wake up. Yuta was also awake but he figured it was best if he let the pair walk upstairs on their own. Besides, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Haechan was curious about him. It was also hard to move when Taeyong had spread himself out and had his legs on his own keeping them in place. 

Haechan silently walked by Mark towards the gardens. His favorite way to start a day was always having breakfast at the gardens and he was excited to share that this time. Once they sat, Mark raised an eyebrow at him.

“You are being too quiet.”

“Am I?” Haechan wondered out loud. Mark squinted.

“Yes, you are. What’s in your mind?”

“Would you be opposed to joining your brother and everyone else on their trip?” Haechan blurted out. Mark’s eyes widened in surprise.

“What?”

“Ten asked me, last night when you guys were asleep,” Haechan began to explain, “he wondered if we’d want to join them. He made some good points… they’re visiting kingdoms you need to talk to anyway…” Mark nodded.

“You’re not wrong,” he stated. Haechan smiled. “I need clothes-”

“I can give you some of mine,” Haechan interrupted.

“And I should write home-”

“We can do that when we go back inside,” Haechan interrupted again. Mark laughed.

“You really want to go?” Mark questioned. Haechan nodded.

“I haven’t been to many kingdoms,” Haechan started, “we could meet so many people. We could learn so many things. And we could spend so much time togeth-'' Haechan stuttered. “Together, with everyone else!” his tone was a bit more high pitched but lucky, or unluckily, for him, Mark was probably the most unaware and dense person he had ever met.

“Maybe I could avoid this war…” Mark smiled at Haechan, Haechan’s heart taking a slight dip to his stomach, “Let’s do it, let’s join them!”

Not that Mark would notice… but the way Haechan didn’t stop smiling all day, from the moment they wrote back to Gerdrel, to telling everyone else, to packing clothes and food in an extra carriage… everybody else did notice and Haechan made little to no effort on hiding it. 

“Let’s leave tomorrow for Rolham,” Ten started. “I figured we could start there and make our way back towards Gerdrel or Elisfer and stop by adjacent kingdoms on that route.”

“Rolham is a two week trip from here,” Haechan explained. “If you would like to start there, may I suggest a route?”

“Go ahead!” Ten encouraged.

“We’ll start at Rolham,” Haechan began, tracing the route with his finger on their map, “we’ll visit Eldeleigh next, then Meltzquer, then all the way up to Mirdrell. Then we come back.”

“That sounds okay to me,” Ten said. He looked at everyone and felt relaxed at seeing everyone agreeing. “Where’s Yuta?” 

“He wanted to see if there was more of the bread we had yesterday so we could take it on the trip,” Taeyong replied. Ten nodded.

“Well, if he doesn’t like the route I guess he’d leave us.” Taeyong frowned and looked down, wondering why he was hoping Yuta wouldn’t ditch them so much. Well, there were many animals he had never encountered and maybe Yuta would help them with hunting. 

* * *

They started their trip a few hours after midday. With two carriages and four horses, Jaehyun found himself driving Johnny and Ten alone while Mark and Haechan were driven by Yuta and Taeyong. Haechan read some books he didn’t have a chance to check before leaving while Mark stared outside the carriage at the scenery slightly changing. Every so often he’d let his eyes wander back inside the carriage to look at Haechan. 

Mark wished he could speak up right then and there. When he looked at Haechan scrunching up his nose and squinting, he knew he had just read something that he was trying to imagine in his head. His eyes would widen and he’d smile whenever he connected some information to things he already knew or learned something new. Haechan would bite his lip if he read something anxiety inducing. Every single aspect of a concentrated Haechan was well known by Mark. Because while Haechan truly believed that Mark was oblivious to him, Mark wanted to tell him he was wrong. For a long time he hadn’t been. For a while he has wanted to show his gratitude to Haechan for sticking by his side. For a while he had felt himself growing to needing and wanting Haechan around him. Mark looked outside again, trying to push away the feeling of wanting to hold Haechan’s hand as he looked out at the landscapes that were all new to him. Mark was unsure of many things but one; that he is in love with Haechan. But whenever he tried to tell him, the words wouldn’t escape his lips no matter how much he tried.

It would’ve made him feel better if he wasn’t the only one. And he wasn’t… outside of his carriage, Taeyong held the reins to the horses while Yuta kept an eye on their surroundings, making sure that they were safe. Every so often, especially with the road being mostly straight up, Taeyong would allow himself to turn his head slightly and look at Yuta who was mostly covered again. He could still see the scar that started on his hand and wondered, once again, who could’ve done this to him? And for what reason? What confused him the most was the sudden burst of anger at the anonymous force that hurt Yuta. Or how he wanted to make sure Yuta didn’t notice him staring. And his biggest hope was that Yuta wouldn’t notice that whenever he asked a question, Taeyong took a moment to think his answer through because he didn’t want to say the wrong things and he needed to breathe in and control whatever it was that sent color rushing up his cheeks.

When night time began to fall, they all decided they should stop and camp. Ten grabbed some food and began to offer it while Taeyong worked on setting up a fire.

“Do you remember what it felt like?” Yuta asked. Ten looked at him in shock, as did Johnny. “I overheard, I’m sorry.”

“And you’re not afraid of me?” Ten asked. Yuta shook his head with a wide smile.

“Of course not! If you wanted to harm me you would’ve already… you don’t strike me as a person who would harm anyone on purpose.”

“I see,” Ten replied, taking a bite of his bread, “I don’t remember much. Whatever it was overtook every single one of my senses so by the time I was fully conscious again, hours had passed.”

“Do you think there is a way you’ll ever be able to control it yourself?” Mark asked. Ten shrugged.

“I don’t know. I want to try, though. If I can’t control it ever it wouldn’t be safe for me to be anywhere close to others…” Ten gulped. Johnny placed his hand on his knee and squeezed a bit in reassurance.

“You will,” Johnny encouraged. 

“I’ve heard,” Yuta started, “that it feels like the god speaks to you once you control it. But you have to let the god speak to you. Back and forth until you both come to a decision on how to proceed. But if you want your will to be higher than that of the god, you must be an incredibly strong person because the god will put their will before yours. You have to control your emotions and use them as your strength.”

“How do you know that?” Ten questioned. Yuta shrugged.

“Just stories I have heard in passing,” he smiled. 

“How do you do that?” Ten wondered. 

“Well, that’s why we’re hoping to find others!” Haechan exclaimed. “I read in the carriage that you can sense them. Once you have full control of your power, you can sense other blessed children.”

“But I don’t have any control,” Ten protested.

“We’re just hoping they do,” Haechan shrugged. “You’re the first of  _ your  _ kind, but there are writings of generations of blessed children of other gods.”

“I wonder if the god of fortune or the god of knowledge have had blessed children,” Ten wondered.

“They have,” Haechan replied. “There are writings,” he immediately added. An awkward silence ensued, interrupted only by the loud whoosh of the wind. They all ate their food and, when finally done, noticed that the wind was practically gone and that it wasn’t as cold anymore.

“I think we should bathe,” Johnny said suddenly. 

“Oh man, that is a great idea!” Yuta sighed. Everyone continued agreeing and began to head over to the river while bringing the horses to drink water too. 

“Why didn’t we at Lee Manor?” Ten asked as he took his shirt off. Johnny shrugged, already starting to walk into the water.

“It’s cold!” Taeyong flinched while Yuta laughed.

“It’s fine!” Yuta said as he knelt and let the water cover him up to his neck.

“Come on, dear,” Johnny said as he extended his arms. Ten looked at him, suspicious.

“It’s cold isn’t it?”

“Not that much, come on…”

“Then why are you shivering?”

“I am not shivering,” Johnny responded trying to hide how his teeth were chattering. Ten rolled his eyes and stood his ground, next to Mark, Haechan, and Jaehyun who were not convinced. 

“Then kneel,” Ten commanded. He immediately regretted it when he saw Johnny’s face morph.

“Excuse me?”

“Oh come on, you know I didn’t mean it like that,” Ten whined. He was frozen in place while Johnny walked closer, “Please, Love…” Johnny grabbed both of Ten’s hands and pulled him closer, ignoring his desperate pleas increasing in volume as he pulled him closer to the middle of the river. Smirking, Johnny kissed Ten; biting his lips and playing with them with his tongue until he felt satiated. He grabbed Ten by the shoulders and pushed him down, ignoring the pained squeal of his boyfriend as the cold water hit his skin. Johnny knelt in front of him quickly after with an innocent smile.

“You don’t ever tell me to kneel, dear, that’s your job.”

“You guys are sick,” Mark commented as he swam past them followed by Haechan who was snickering.

“Shut up,” Johnny rolled his eyes and splashed water at his brother. He turned back to Ten who, even in darkness he could sense, was blushing like crazy. Johnny then collected some water with both his hands and splashed it over Ten’s head. His expression softened as he began to try and scrub Ten’s skin, massaging his shoulders and arms. He drew circles with his fingers on Ten’s neck and, when he felt satisfied Ten was cleaner now, he brought him closer for a hug. They could hear spread conversations across the river, with Jaehyun swimming from one side to the other splashing everyone else on purpose with his feet, but it seemed distant. Johnny concentrated on Ten’s breathing and Ten could hear Johnny’s heartbeat. “Do you think it works on any body of water?”

“I don’t know,” Ten admitted. Johnny hummed.

“Maybe we should make you mad…”

“How would you do that?”

“I could kiss Jaehyun…” Ten stiffened. “I’m kidding.”

“You better be,” Ten replied, relaxing instantly. 

“Do you think the god of water and thunder would be upset if I had my way with you right now in this river?” Johnny snorted.

“Not sure but I know everyone else would probably be,” Ten replied. 

“I don’t care about them,” Johnny replied.

“No,” Ten said firmly. “Maybe another time, if you’re good.”

“If  _ I  _ am good?”

“Love,” Ten purred.

“Ten,” Johnny said a bit more firmly, pushing Ten slightly away to see his face. “You do this on purpose, don’t you?”

“What?” Ten smiled innocently.

“Trying to play a part you know damned well isn’t yours to play, knowing what would happen to you if you keep doing so,” Johnny explained. Ten shrugged.

“I have no idea what you are talking about


	15. Chapter 15

The closer they began to get to Rolham, the more everything around changed. The area was surrounded by luscious forests and hot water springs that they decided would be great spots for bathing. The air became hotter and humid as they got closer, with the skies darkening with a red tint to them. 

“It looks like Rolham might be in trouble,” Yuta commented as they sat just a few hours outside the city walls. The top of the mountain looked dangerously active.

“That thing could explode at any minute,” Johnny added, concerned. 

“We must make our visit quick, then,” Ten said as he took a bite of his food. The group grew wary and concerned as they made it closer to the walls where they found an open gate with no soldiers. The air felt like it was burning them from inside out. They had stripped down to their most basic pants and shirts but the sweat trailed down every inch of their bodies. It didn’t stop them from noticing that, apart for a few knights every few steps, there was absolutely nobody in town. 

“They aren’t questioning why we are here,” Ten mumbled inside his carriage, trying to cool himself with a fan unsuccessfully. “What is going on?”

“It is so weird,” Johnny agreed. “Hey, it will be okay,” he reassured Ten, squeezing his thigh. “I’d hug you, but I’m hot.” Ten laughed.

“I’d push you away if you tried.”

“I prefer your home’s heat,” Johnny whined. Ten nodded, unable to reply as they drove into the palace grounds. They saw more knights and Ten wondered how they could carry their uniform without passing out. 

They stopped their carriages in front of the palace’s main door and got out. Everyone was equally miserable. A young man walked down the palace steps to greet them.

“Hello,” he started, visibly exhausted, “who are you? What business do you have in Rolham today?”

“My name is Chittaphon, King of Elisfer,” Ten announced. The young man smiled softly.

“We had received a notice that your dear father had passed. We are sorry about that.” Ten nodded.

“What is happening?” Ten suddenly asked. The man shrugged.

“What do you mean?”

“Town is empty,” Ten started, “and I have heard Rolham is, in general, a hot place to be in but this seems a bit…”

“Much?” the man completed. “Follow me. The palace’s walls are designed to withstand a bit of this heat out. I bet it will be easier to speak once inside.”

As promised, inside the walls of the palace was cooler. Just enough for them to stop sweating and feeling like they would pass out any given minute. They silently followed the man into the throne room where they stood in front of the set of seats made of rubies and cooled off lava. The man sat in one to the left of the center one.

“I am Prince Kim Doyoung, welcome to Rolham.” Shocked, the group vowed respectfully. “I bet there is a really good reason why I shouldn’t have your heads chopped off right now, Prince Johnny,” Doyoung tilted his head, neutral expression. He turned to Mark and hissed, “Crown Prince Mark.”

“News travels fast,” Johnny commented. Doyoung frowned.

“Of course everyone is aware of what happens in Gerdrel,” Doyoung sighed. “You sit in your kingdom by the furious southeast seas, feeling like the world owes everything to you, uncaring of how many lives you ruin for your greed,” Doyoung spat. 

“Yeah, I don’t know how to argue that,” Johnny shrugged. Mark rolled his eyes.

“ _ Our  _ father’s Gerdrel,” Mark started, “didn’t care much for others.”

“And you’re going to tell me now you’ll be different?” Doyoung questioned. Mark shrugged.

“Of course. Why would I bother to come all the way over here if I wasn’t? Did my father even attempt to come to Rolham in all of his years reigning?” Doyoung was caught off guard. He shook his head. “You will be King soon, too. Do you intend to reign like your father did?”

“If there is a kingdom to reign at all,” Doyoung said sadly. As if on cue, the ground began to shake. Ten held onto Johnny to avoid falling as did Haechan who held onto Mark. Jaehyun managed to move towards Taeyong and Yuta, pulling them from debris falling from the ceiling just where they were standing. A few seconds later, the earthquake stopped. A loud noise could be heard from inside the mountain, like a wild animal roaring to get anyone and anything out its way. “For months the volcano has been incredibly active,” Doyoung explained, unfazed. “We made sure everybody was safely taken out of here. Some other kingdoms allowed us to send our people there.” Doyoung looked down, he seemed out of breath. “I can’t guarantee they will have a kingdom to come back to,” he looked up, eyes locking with Yuta’s who was still holding Taeyong’s shoulders. Doyoung frowned but when he was about to speak, Ten spoke.

“You stopped it,” Ten whispered. “You stopped it,” he said a bit louder this time. Doyoung looked at him laughing nervously.

“What are you talking about?” Doyoung asked. 

“Are you going to tell me you don’t feel it?” Ten questioned. Doyoung’s expression softened as he left his seat and slowly walked towards Ten. Johnny tensed and was about to cover Ten from him but Ten squeezed his shoulder and walked towards Doyoung instead. Ten held his hands towards Doyoung who gingerly placed his own on Ten’s. 

“Of course I do,” Doyoung stated, “it’s so great I could feel it when you were still days away.”

“What is happening?” Johnny whispered to Mark who shrugged yet began to chuckle when he noticed Johnny’s murderous gaze and tightening fists. 

“Do  _ not  _ fight the heir of Rolham’s throne, I am trying to avoid a war here,” Mark whispered. Johnny squinted.

“No war to be had if nobody knows,” Johnny hissed. Mark rolled his eyes and sighed in defeat.

“We had heard the tales… I never would’ve expected the god of water and thunder blessing a child in my lifetime,” Doyoung smiled, taking his hands away. “It is an honor.”

“Likewise,” Ten replied, walking back to stand by Johnny who relaxed almost immediately. 

“Life in Rolham is possible due to every king being blessed by the god of fire. Or at least every king except for one,” Doyoung looked apologetic. “My father… My grandfather left someone to make sure I would be taught everything if I was blessed by the gods. Which, luckily, I was. But my father wasn’t or at least we thought he wasn’t and he resented me for it. A few weeks ago, when we heard about your father’s passing,” Doyoung stopped, looking at Johnny and Mark, “it made him extremely happy. It also made him extremely happy to know that Johnny wasn’t taking over, and the rush of knowing he could probably destroy Gerdrel now set it off,” Doyoung looked outside of a balcony next to the thrones where the mountain furiously rumbled, “he has no idea how to control it and he can’t do anything about it. He won’t listen to me, or anyone really.”

“Where is he?” Mark asked. Doyoung pointed up.

“He is atop the mountain.” Another earthquake began, Doyoung fell to his knees with his eyes closed. He was whispering frantically with his eyes shut tightly. A few seconds later the shaking stopped.

“You’ve been keeping it under control,” Johnny said as he helped Ten stand better.

“Trying,” Doyoung sniffled. “It is exhausting to try and control somebody’s raw power for weeks.” 

“What about the person who trained you?” Ten asked. Doyoung shook his head. 

“My father can’t understand that if he unleashes it completely he will destroy Rolham and possibly beyond our territory… but all he wants is to end Gerdrel which I don’t even understand how he expects to do that with our volcano being so far away unless he plans to destroy it all.”

“That’d be the only way,” Ten agreed. “Doyoung, I need your help. You have a general idea of what to do. I have no control over mine at all and I-” Ten gulped. Doyoung looked at him sadly “-Please come with us.”

“What?” Johnny exclaimed. “We just met the guy!”

“Johnny,” Mark tried but Johnny shook his head.

“We don’t know him!”

“We don’t know anyone else who could help me!” Ten replied. 

“We can find someone else,” Johnny huffed. His face was red and he looked at Doyoung angrily, “I don’t want a stranger to join us.”

“Yuta was a stranger who joined us!” Ten argued. Johnny stuttered.

“He helps with hunting,” Johnny shrugged as if it was enough of a reason to trust Yuta. Yuta smiled.

“And I also don’t go around holding your boyfriend’s hands,” Yuta added. Ten looked at him then turned to look at Johnny again, confused.

“Jealousy looks crappy on you,” Ten spat. Johnny took a deep breath.

“Ten,” he tried but Ten shook his head.

“What is wrong with you?” Ten questioned, his expression turning dark, every word sounding sharp, “Why would you get jealous?”

“I’m sorry,” Johnny tried again but Ten couldn’t hold back.

“He can help me. That is all! You shouldn’t have to question my feelings for you. I am doing all of this for  _ you _ !” Ten spat. A ray of lightning hit close to the palace, the thunder booming right after.

“Love, I’m sorry,” Johnny began, eyes widening as he looked outside. 

“Just who do you think I am?” Ten continued, eyes filling up with tears, lips trembling in anger, “I have spent most of my life devoted to you, I want to control this for  _ you  _ because if I don’t we have no future, if I don’t-” thunder struck again, “-you could die by my hand-” another thunder made the room shake almost as much as the earthquakes, “-I  _ cannot  _ live without  _ you-”  _ Ten cried, a sequence of lightning striking, the noise drowning Ten’s cries. His whole body began to shake and he couldn’t hold himself up so he knelt on the ground. Everyone could see his tears falling off to the ground. Johnny knelt in place then dragged himself up to Ten. His vision blurred by his own tears, Johnny pulled Ten closed for a tight hug as he whispered apologies over and over by Ten’s ears. 

“I’m sorry,” Johnny repeated for what it seemed like the hundredth time before he gave Ten a kiss on his head, “you’re right and I’m so sorry.”

“I hate to interrupt,” Doyoung spoke, “but I can’t join you. And you can’t stay here. I can’t leave, otherwise, nobody will be able to control the mountain.”

“Please,” Johnny pleaded this time. “We need you. We’ll do anything.”

“Unless you manage to stop my father somehow, I really can’t do much,” Doyoung replied. “I am at my limit here.” 

“There is only one solution here,” Yuta stated. “Your Highness, you must explicitly state that you are aware that there is only one solution here and that you are okay with us taking that route.” Doyoung turned. He looked at Yuta with a sad smile. 

“Whatever must be done, or it truly will be the end of the world,” Doyoung stated before his body gave up and he passed out on the floor.

* * *

The knights were rather helpful in trying to find wet towels and water to help Doyoung. He was febrile and they were unsure whether his father could sense that he was free to do as he pleased. Jaehyun and Taeyong took charge in nursing Doyoung back to health while Yuta discussed his ideas with Ten and Johnny.

“That is crazy,” Johnny stated. Yuta rolled his eyes, “You can’t go up there, you won’t make it back!”

“ _ That  _ is crazy,” Yuta replied. “Do you have any other ideas?” Johnny shook his head. “Didn’t think so!”

“We can come up with something else.”

“There is no time,” Yuta said. “Please. We don’t know how long until Doyoung wakes up. And if we don’t do something that mountain will blow up and neither of us can stop it from doing so.” Johnny sighed. Ten bit his lip and looked over at Taeyong who was instructing Jaehyun to use the wet towels on Doyoung’s arms and chest to cool him off. 

“You have to come back,” Ten requested. His eyes wouldn’t move away from Taeyong. He didn’t want to think what would happen if Yuta didn’t come back. Taeyong hadn’t had a chance to even understand  _ why  _ Yuta was all he could think about. Why he wanted him close at all times. Why he would always laugh at all of Yuta’s bad jokes or blush any time he undressed to bathe in the rivers. Ten knew that Taeyong had spent his whole life at the service of the kingdom. Ten didn’t want to take away the only thing that was his. “You  _ have  _ to come back,” Ten said again. Yuta nodded, his eyes drifting to look at Taeyong too. For the first time since they had known him he looked scared. His expression softened when Taeyong looked back at him and smiled. 

“I  _ will  _ come back.”

* * *

Yuta was glad he could run away towards the mountain without an issue. He figured Johnny was currently trying to hold Taeyong from running to catch up with him. He figured Ten was trying to soothe him back. Yuta didn’t look back because he could feel it. And he wasn’t wrong… but he couldn’t know for sure.

As he continued trekking up the mountain he was glad it wasn’t as tall. He had hiked taller mountains before. However, none of them lacked fresh air to breathe the way this one did. None of those other mountains threatened to explode with lava possibly ending life as they knew it. Yuta coughed and squinted, his eyes having a hard time dealing with the ashes and dark clouds. He stopped for a moment, almost unable to stop coughing. He allowed his mind to drift for a second; he could see Taeyong’s shy smile, he could hear his laugh as he’d splash Yuta with water during bath times, how he would squeal in delight any time he ate food hunted by Yuta, his sense of duty to make sure Ten was okay, the way he admired Johnny for loving Ten so much, how much he liked Haechan and thought Mark was in love with him… Yuta remembered the way Taeyong’s face morphed into a pure disgusted expression when admitting Jaehyun was growing on him. And before Yuta almost gave up, he remembered his smile earlier as Ten made him promise he’d come back. Yuta looked ahead, heart pounding against his chest. He had lived by a set of rules in his life,  _ getting attached  _ was definitely a no for him. But he felt like he had friends now and his heart hurt thinking of not seeing Taeyong ever again. 

Carefully, he continued walking up the side of the mountain, the heat becoming almost unbearable. He knew he was closer when he heard the lava swirling around, bits of it exploding into the air. He tried to hide behind trees and rocks until he made it to the top. 

“ _ You  _ have no power here, son,” the king’s raspy voice came from behind him. Yuta turned around, breathing heavily. 

“I’d like to think I have some,” Yuta replied. 

“That’s an ugly scar there.”

“I think it makes me look charming,” Yuta tried to smile. He began to cough again, the metallic taste of his blood making him want to vomit. Blood started to pour down his nose as well.

“You don’t look well,” Doyoung’s father snickered. 

“Much better than you, I’m sure,” Yuta smiled, spitting blood to Doyoung’s father’s feet.

“What do you want to do?”

“End this,” Yuta replied. 

“You would do that?” 

“It’s for the best,” Yuta answered. 

“You can’t do anything to me here.” Yuta nodded as the King walked closer to him, “You’re done. You can’t do it here. ” He held a hand towards Yuta, the ground began to shake again. Yuta was barely able to remain standing, but he came closer. The man grabbed Yuta by his neck and began to squeeze a bit. Yuta laughed, licking his teeth. The man whimpered and let Yuta go. He began coughing up blood as he touched the knife on his neck.

“I can do that, though,” Yuta snapped. Doyoung’s father tried to run against him but Yuta swiftly moved to the side. The man couldn’t stop himself, his hand taking off the knife and slicing his neck as he fell into the crater, hoping he wouldn’t feel the lava slowly burning his skin off. 

A few minutes passed when the air began to clear. The pit seemed to calm down and Yuta thought his job was done. He began to walk back the same way he came up. He was able to see much better, he could see the palace from there, he noticed a group getting together at the base of the mountain and recognized his friends there. He ran, his legs barely able to keep up, wondering if rolling would make it easier on him but before he realized it he was down to the cheerful praises and relieved sighs of his friends. When he made it to plain ground he slowly walked to Taeyong who looked like he could murder someone.

“How dare you?” Taeyong punched Yuta on the shoulder. “You ran away,” another punch, “left without saying goodbye,” this time he punched his other shoulder, “on your own, you could’ve been killed!” this time Taeyong softly punched him on the chest. Yuta looked down at Taeyong’s fist, chuckling, and grabbed it with his hands. He opened it up, forcing Taeyong to relax his hand. He placed a tender kiss on it and smiled at Taeyong.

“I’m back,” he said before dropping to the ground, a smile still plastered on his face as Taeyong panicked and, after making sure he still had a pulse, asked Johnny to help him carry Yuta back inside.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> READ THIS FIRST IF YOU HAVE BEEN READING THE STORY SINCE I FIRST STARTED POSTING !!!
> 
> Notice the change in content warnings and rating. I announced on my Twitter a bit ago that the story would have 18+ elements to it AND I also added a trigger warning for abusive parents. Please, please, PLEASE 18+ smutty scenes do not appeal to you or you believe the abusive parents mentions and flashbacks could trigger you, I apologize greatly but maybe you cannot continue reading this story. Of course you always have an option to do so and maybe skip ahead in those parts. I'm not here to tell you what to do. I'm here to make you aware of these changes.  
> Thank you and, if you're continuing ahead, I hope you enjoy !!

Yuta woke up coughing. The room was dark and he thought himself alone until a groan made him look to his side.

“Quiet,” Doyoung mumbled. Yuta raised an eyebrow and turned to look up at the ceiling. He took slow, deep breaths for a minute before Doyoung interrupted his thoughts. “Did  _ you  _ do it?”

“Yes,” Yuta replied. He turned his head slightly to look at Doyoung again.

“Seems only right,” Doyoung sighed. 

“Barely made it…”

“I can only imagine.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” Doyoung slowly brought himself up to a sitting position.

“Will you help him?” Yuta asked. “Chittaphon,” he added quickly.

“I can try,” Doyoung nodded slowly, “I feel like he needs more than what I can offer. Perhaps,” Doyoung gulped, his eyes locked on Yuta’s.

“Finally awake?” Taeyong’s voice disrupted their silence. He began to walk towards Yuta’s bed, grabbed a small chair, and placed it by the bed. Yuta gave Doyoung a small, sad smile before he turned around to Taeyong with a wider, cheerier one. “I don’t even know why I’m taking care of you,” Taeyong scrunched up his nose, aggravated. Yuta’s smile grew wider.

“Because I’m amazing,” Yuta offered.

“Tsk,” Taeyong rolled his eyes and grabbed a towel. He drained it and placed it on Yuta’s forehead, slowly washing his face. “It was stupid. You were very stupid,” Taeyong continued, “I can’t believe you would do that, you just ran up there by yourself and didn’t even have the common  _ decency  _ to say good bye…”

“I planned on coming back,” Yuta explained. Taeyong squinted an eye and tilted his head.

“... you could’ve died and didn’t even say goodbye,” Taeyong continued complaining while cleaning Yuta’s arms, “so ridiculously stupid.”

Yuta smiled and closed his eyes while Taeyong continued washing him and muttering complaints. Yuta sensed in Taeyong’s wavering voice that he was concerned he wouldn’t make it back. The threat was real and, in that moment, Yuta finally acknowledged that, maybe, he should’ve at least said goodbye to Taeyong.

“I’m sorry,” Yuta finally said, making Taeyong shut, “I will never do that again. I will never leave without saying goodbye first.” 

Taeyong took a moment to understand the words that had left Yuta’s lips. The shadow of a quick smile appeared on his face before he frowned again, “Are you saying next time you aren’t planning on coming back? Is that why you’d need to say goodbye?” Taeyong continued berating Yuta who started to laugh but stopped after a series of coughs. His eyes softened as he looked at Taeyong, an endearing smile on his face while his eyes fluttered as they followed Taeyong’s movements. Right then, Doyoung  _ wished  _ he could stand up and leave.

* * *

Doyoung was able to leave his bed a few hours after noon. He felt his body strength rising and was less feverish. He found Jaehyun first, walking around the palace looking for the kitchen. After Doyoung pointed him towards the kitchen, he found Ten and Johnny sitting on a balcony. He cleared his throat, already wishing he could leave again; Johnny caressed Ten’s hands softly while Ten looked at him with a small smile. Doyoung wondered why he kept finding himself in the awkward situation of being around people losing themselves in their own worlds. Johnny quickly let go of Ten’s hands and stood from his seat, offering it to Doyoung who graciously accepted it. He was silent at first, looking over his town and the way the ashy winds had been clearing up. A blue sky fought its way through giving the place a glow Doyoung forgot about. The heat was manageable, too. And the mountain was dormant, even the smoke on the top was completely gone. 

“I have been thinking about your proposition,” Doyoung started, still not staring at Ten. “Your power is so great, I feel it’ll be even greater once you’re able to control it. I don’t think I have much to teach you however… I have to go around to get my people back home. So, I might as well travel with you so I can properly thank the other kingdoms for taking my people in asylum. And since I’d be traveling with you, I don’t see why I can’t teach you whatever I am able to.”

“Thank you!” Ten said excitedly. He smiled brightly to which Doyoung just courteously nodded back, “You were able to keep that volcano from exploding and destroying it all. I bet there is much you could teach me!”

“Plants can regrow in hardened lava or after a serious fire… I have yet to hear a story in which the ocean takes over land and the land can retake its space after,” Doyoung turned to look at Ten, “I am nothing compared to you.” Ten’s smile faded and he looked away towards the top of the mountain. “That’s why we’ll make sure you’re able to control it,” Doyoung quickly added but it was late. Even though Ten gave him a quick smile, Johnny noticed how tense he became. It was obvious in his face that his mind was in a turmoil from which he’d need time to get out. 

Ten couldn’t remember a time in which he hoped to be more than what he was. He always enjoyed his position as his father’s heir, everything he learned from his kingdom and those around him. He enjoyed being Johnny’s friend, then his lover, then his fiance, and he was sure he’d love to be his husband… except he wasn’t sure they’d make it to that. How long could Johnny possibly put up with a dangerous man like him? How long until he realized it was much easier to let go? That there was no guarantee Ten would be able to control it. How long until he realized that every minute by Ten was a minute closer to imminent danger? Ten used to be able to control his emotions except  _ now  _ his emotions determined the fate of many, his emotions were volatile, he scared himself and he wondered how long until he scared Johnny off…  _ that  _ would be his end. He didn’t notice Doyoung excusing himself to go give some orders to his knights. He didn’t realize Johnny had taken his seat by him again until Johnny grabbed his hands again. The familiar warmth and softness brought Ten back to his senses just in time for him to hear Johnny.

“I’m not leaving you, ever.”

“Wh-” Ten whispered and turned to look at Johnny who smiled.

“There is no force in this lifetime that will keep me away from you and  _ that  _ is a promise,” Johnny continued. He looked over the town and mumbled, “My heart is yours.”

Ten looked down, his cheeks rising, warmth spreading all over. Maybe he was overreacting. Maybe he underestimated Johnny. It saddened him a bit the lack of trust he had on him at that point. But he was mostly trying to protect Johnny from himself.

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, hands intertwined. Rolham was gorgeous, Ten thought, as the air cleared up and he could see the beautiful town’s architecture from the balcony. The buildings were light in color with dark brown tiles in the triangle shaped ceilings. Most of the buildings had two stories. A stoney road started at the front gates of the palace and ran through the middle of the town all the way to the town’s own gates. Almost in the middle there was a circular plaza with a fountain that was, at the time, all dried up. Ten figured the environment created by an active volcano at the risk of exploding at any time would probably keep anything from surviving for long. He wondered when the plants and trees in the mountain would bloom again. He wished he could stay long enough to figure it out. And then he wondered if there existed a child blessed by the god of Earth who could probably help regrow everything quickly. His stomach flipped. Could he really be the only one who didn’t know what to do with the power inside of him?

* * *

Haechan decided he wanted to walk Mark around the quiet streets of Rolham. Mark had never traveled the way Johnny did and, even though Haechan had never visited that many places before either, he had read enough about them to know. He knew too much. And he made sure Mark would also learn.

“Rolham is almost 1,000 years old,” Haechan explained to a Mark who was more interested in the way Haechan’s lips moved than the words escaping them, “the god of fire was the first one to bless a child. Rumor has it he actually used a man to procreate the child with a beautiful woman. They then became leaders of a small tribe of people. They were nomads and had stopped by the mountain to rest, unknowing that it was a volcano until the ground began to tremble and smoke quickly darkened the sky on them. The god of fire acted through the child and kept the mountain from exploding. They figured it was a great area to settle if the child could control the mountain and so Rolham was born,” Haechan smiled proudly. Mark gulped and nodded, hoping Haechan would think he had paid attention. He could never fool him, though, “You didn’t get any of what I just said did you?” Haechan questioned squinting his eyes.

“Of course I did,” Mark lied. Haechan raised an eyebrow. Mark stopped walking and chuckled. “You know me too well.”

“I do. I wonder if it’s a blessing or a curse.”

“I’d say it’s a curse,” Mark offered. Haechan blushed while shaking his head.

“No, I see it more like a blessing for sure.”

They silently resumed their walk, Haechan strangely silent and trying to look anywhere but at Mark. Some of the shops had their doors open and they would walk inside. The feeling was eerie, as if time had stopped. There was a tavern where they saw half empty glasses and bowls scattered around the floor. Truly like the end of the world. Which, for the people of Rolham, it probably felt like it. They continued to walk down the main road towards the town’s gates. Mark glanced at Haechan for a moment before quickly turning his head when Haechan stared back.

“Do you think,” Mark cleared his throat nervously, looking down, “that Doyoung will join us to help Chittaphon?”

“Maybe,” Haechan replied, confused.

“Do you think he will be able to help him at all?”

“Who knows… their powers are basically the two ends of a spectrum. I have read there are meditation exercises that blessed children have learned to be able to control their powers so maybe he will be able to show him those and go from there. I feel like a lot of it will be self learned, though.”

“I hope that’s true,” Mark replied softly. For his brother’s sake, he truly hoped so.

* * *

Heading out of Rolham wasn’t as much of a hassle as making it in was. Doyoung sat with Jaehyun while he drove Mark and Haechan while Taeyong insisted Yuta rested next to him while driving Johnny and Ten. It would be a week before they made it to Eldeleigh, probably a couple more days since they needed to stop and rest. The way to Eldeleigh from Rolham, Doyoung explained, was bare lands; no forests, no mountains, just a connecting river and green plains with scattered trees. The Sun in the area wouldn’t be as scalding as in Elisfer, at least. Just extremely bright. 

Their first stop happened close to sunset. Johnny helped Jaehyun set some tents that Doyoung had graciously offered before they left Rolham. Each tent was meant for one person but there were only four, so they figured they’d need to try and fit two people per tent. Johnny brought up his brilliant plan; Jaehyun and Doyoung could share one, Mark and Haechan another, Taeyong and Yuta could take the third, and he and Ten would use the last one. Mark tried to argue that nobody told him he could make the choices, joined by a blushing Taeyong who tried to explain they should vote on it. Meanwhile, Ten smiled brightly and congratulated his fiance for being so smart and considerate of everyone’s needs and explained that it was a great idea. 

“Why is one further down?” Doyoung questioned.

“You don’t want to know,” Jaehyun replied as he pointed at Johnny who was eating Ten with his eyes.

“Ew,” Doyoung said simply. Jaehyun snorted, “I didn’t need to know that.”

“You asked,” Jaehyun reminded him.

They all ate together and, when it got too dark to be outside, Johnny led Ten to their tent, Doyoung yawned and asked Jaehyun to get the one on the most opposite side of Johnny and Ten’s as they walked towards theirs, and Mark was basically dragging an exhausted, half asleep Haechan to their own. Taeyong, however, was trying to find reasons to stay behind “cleaning”.

“There is nothing left to clean,” Yuta noted as he held the torch over the area Taeyong was looking at.

“That’s what we think, and then there is something left behind, always something left behind,” Taeyong said in a high pitched tone, scurrying around. He would fight Johnny for this, one day for sure. 

“Taeyong,” Yuta said softly, grabbing Taeyong’s arm and bringing him up. “It’s late. Let’s sleep.” Taeyong swore his heart stopped, Yuta’s low voice echoing in his mind, half of his face illuminated by the torch, the other hidden in the dark, his eyes bright. Taeyong nodded and followed Yuta in silence. They reached the only tent that was open and Yuta let Taeyong get in first as he extinguished the torch.

Taeyong laid in a bundle of blankets and thanked Doyoung for them. How did he oversee not bringing more blankets for sleeping? He heard the tent shuffle as Yuta dragged himself in. Taeyong stared into the darkness, his back facing Yuta’s. 

“Good night,” Taeyong whispered. Yuta smiled. 

Taeyong tried to peek at Yuta but quickly faced forward again when he heard Yuta turning around. Taeyong gasped, almost wanted to scream, when Yuta pulled him closer into a hug. 

“You’re cold!” Taeyong tried to break free but Yuta just held tighter.

“You’re warm,” Yuta mumbled and dropped his head forward, nuzzling Taeyong’s neck. 

And that would be the longest night Taeyong had ever had.

In the tent to their left, Mark and Haechan laid facing each other. Not that they could see, at all.

“I am so sleepy,” Haechan whispered.

“I know,” Mark replied with a soft smile. 

“I am so tired,” Haechan complained.

“Then sleep,” Mark suggested. He was rather tired himself but he never fell asleep before Haechan if he could help it. It was nights like that one the reason Mark had stopped doing so. Haechan became increasingly agitated in his sleepy state, complaining that there wasn’t much protection there, that anything could happen in those barren plains, so Mark took it upon himself to find Haechan’s hand and grab it. He brought it up close to his face as he began to hum a soft melody. Haechan stopped talking and, instead, listened to Mark while closing his eyes. Worked like a charm every single time. When Mark could hear that Haechan’s breathing wasn’t erratic anymore, he closed his own eyes, still holding to Haechan’s hand with both of his, close to his lips.

Doyoung laid facing up, rolling his eyes so much he was starting to feel a strain. 

“Will you please just fall asleep?”

“I am uncomfortable,” Jaehyun complained as he rolled in place. 

“It’s a  _ tent.  _ It’s not  _ meant  _ to be comfortable,” Doyoung hissed. 

“I can’t sleep like this.”

“Makes two of us,” Doyoung sighed, turning his back on Jaehyun. “Probably four,” he added, rolling his eyes and scrunching up his nose. Jaehyun laughed, finally stopping in place.

A small breeze began to shift the tents back and forth. Further from the other three was a fourth tent where one of Doyoung’s worst nightmares was developing.

“I’m just saying it’s been a while and you owe me one. Multiple, actually,” Johnny said as a matter of fact. He was hugging Ten who kept shaking his head. 

“You are impossible,” Ten complained. Johnny smiled.

“Come on,” Johnny sang in Ten’s ear, “what do you say? Are you up for a challenge?”

Ten turned around, his back facing Johnny now. “You are so unbelievable,” Ten began complaining, unable to hear Johnny shifting next to him while he tried to take his pants off, “you really can’t wait until another time? We are in the smallest tent I have ever seen in my life, and we have been traveling for hours, and all this time you’ve just been waiting for a chance to be your dirty self-” Ten stopped suddenly, a loud whine escaping his lips as he felt the cold hitting his now barren lower body and the pressure making its way behind him. 

“Shh,” Johnny reminded him, caressing his hair. 

“You didn’t even prepare me,” Ten cried. 

“Ten, it’s dark, but I could  _ hear and feel  _ you preparing yourself since I brought it up,” Johnny whispered. 

“H-How?” Ten questioned.

“I just know you so well,” Johnny purred, “you’re so good to me.” Ten tensed as Johnny kissed his neck. “Now remember the rules? Can’t move,” Johnny groaned. “And that definitely includes clenching your ass.”

“You are so unfair,” Ten pouted, trying his best to control his breathing. 

“You  _ agreed  _ to play,” Johnny whispered against his ear. Ten bit his lip but that didn’t help to muffle the moan that escaped his lips nor did it help avoid the twitching in his own cock. “You can’t touch yourself either,” Johnny reminded him. 

“This is torture,” Ten whispered finding Johnny’s hands that were hugging him and squeezed them with his own to keep from going further down. 

“Hey, think of it as me helping you,” Johnny explained. “If you can control yourself now, you can definitely learn how to control your powers,” he snickered. 

“I love you,” Ten huffed. He shut his eyes tightly, hoping he could think of something else rather than how much he wanted to ignore Johnny’s warnings and ride him right then and there. 

There was no way to know how long Ten was able to last, but the next morning he shyly wore the marks of his punishment and it was too hot for him to even bother to cover them with more clothes. 

“Should see the other guy,” he told Taeyong when he silently questioned him as he looked at Ten’s neck wide eyed. “I should trim my nails short,” Ten thought out loud as he jumped onto his carriage. 

“This is going to be a long trip,” Doyoung sighed when he saw Johnny come over, shamelessly parading himself shirtless and full of scratches some of which seemed to still be bleeding. 

“Good morning, Prince Doyoung!” Johnny greeted cheerfully and dropped his tent on the back of his carriage. 

“You get used to it,” Jaehyun shrugged. He then turned to Doyoung with a smile. “Bread?” 


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> long time no seeeee!  
> this is a short chapter to kick start me updating regularly again ❤️ Thank you all for your patience and support!

The group had been driving through plains for about four days when Taeyong noticed Yuta wincing after just trying to grab a blanket from the back of the carriage. He noticed the difficulty with which Yuta would sit with them whenever it was time to rest and how it was even more difficult to stand up after. Yuta offered to try and hunt for them but was stopped by Taeyong multiple times who was able to notice Yuta wincing in pain every so often. 

“You’re not healed,” Taeyong would remind him.

“We are starving,” Yuta would complain but Taeyong would not have any of it and, more than once, had to forcefully keep Yuta in place.

To his dismay, Taeyong had also noticed Doyoung would not keep his eyes off Yuta at times. And with this discovery came a burning sensation that started deep in his stomach, rising to his chest. It was worsened when he realized Yuta couldn’t keep his eyes from Doyoung either. It was Ten who brought it up after Taeyong snapped at Doyoung for grabbing a second plate on a chill evening. 

They were close to a small lake and Taeyong walked its border for a few minutes, just far away from the group while still being able to see them. He sat on the rocky ground and began to throw rocks at the water. Ten had silently followed him and gracefully sat next to him. Taeyong avoided his gaze but Ten just sighed and smiled.

“I like to see when the moon raises,” Ten began. “I like nighttime. It’s peaceful. I can think freely and breathe in the calm. Usually makes me feel better.” Taeyong kept throwing rocks into the water. “I wonder if I will be able to control the water in this lake one day.” Taeyong stopped, staring at a smooth rock he had picked up. “We’ve been far from home for a while now… how are you?”

“Fine,” Taeyong replied through gritted teeth. 

“I believe you,” Ten said, raising an eyebrow. Taeyong sighed.

“I don’t know what is wrong with me,” Taeyong confessed. 

“Sometimes saying things out loud helps us make sense of them,” Ten said. Taeyong turned to look at him and smiled softly.

“I don’t know where to start,” Taeyong sighed. “I have been getting this intense burning feeling, it starts in my stomach and it rises. Sometimes I can feel my cheeks flaring up and I am just angry. But why would I be angry?”

“When does this happen?” Ten asked. He was feeling lost, not sure how he could help Taeyong. But, lucky for him, Taeyong didn’t know much about inhibitions. He was up front, at least with Ten, so when he spoke Ten perked up with a wide grin.

“I don’t think I like the way Doyoung stares at Yuta,” Taeyong said simply. He was unable to connect the dots himself and it took a lot of strength for Ten to not laugh.

“What?”

“It’s also so frustrating how it seems like Yuta has a death wish… he went up the volcano by himself, came back down a mess. He can barely breathe without wincing in pain,” Taeyong said, annoyed.

“You care about him,” Ten explained. Taeyong looked at him bewildered.

“I care about everyone!” Taeyong exclaimed defensively. Ten nodded.

“Sure you do… except you go out of your way to make sure  _ he  _ is okay. Don’t try me, Taeyong, when you noticed he was gone back in Rolham you wanted to fight all of us for letting him go.”

“Because it was stupid and irresponsible!”

“And you care about him,” Ten repeated himself. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Taeyong stood. “I’m going to sleep.” before Ten could reply, Taeyong walked away. Ten smiled and followed him back to camp. 

“We should go sleep,” Ten yawned, standing by Johnny as he played with his hair.

“I think that is a great idea,” Johnny yawned in response. He nodded at Mark and Haechan who sat by the fire. Doyoung and Jaehyun had gone to bed already, and Yuta followed Taeyong when he noticed he’d be going to their tent.   


* * *

Mark stared at the starry night sky. Haechan looked behind them and, when he made sure they were alone, he laid his head on Mark’s right shoulder. Mark hummed with a smile.

“They’re all gone?”

“All gone,” Haechan mumbled. He hid his hands between his thighs and shivered.

“Should we go to our tent?” Mark asked. Haechan shook his head.

“No, it’s pretty out here. Just… cold.”

“I can see that.”

They remained in silence for a few minutes. 

“At some point you’ll have to tell your brother,” Haechan interrupted their silence. Mark sighed.

“I know… but I don’t think it’s right to tell him with everything going on right now. And I really don’t want to deal with his face when I tell him.”

“I’ll say that’s the real reason here,” Haechan chuckled. Mark looked over both of his shoulders before taking a deep breath and raising his hand towards Haechan’s face. He cupped his face while he sat up right. Mark softly drew circles with his thumbs on Haechan’s bottom lip. He slowly leaned in and gave him a tender kiss. He rested his forehead against Haechan’s with his eyes closed and a smile. 

“We should go to bed now,” Haechan smiled. “We don’t want to be tired for tomorrow’s trip.” Mark agreed and stood with him. Walking back to their tent, they playfully kissed each other, tumbling around and almost falling a few times, unaware of Ten’s smirk as he silently walked out of the woods towards his tent. 

* * *

There was a shared sense of relief when the town began to appear on the horizon. Eldeleigh appeared to them behind a light fog. Clouds began to cover the sky and droplets began to fall as they approached the main gates. The town was busy, a vast difference from Rolham’s empty ash filled streets. Children ran around the streets playing, trying to avoid other passersby and carriages. They could see women carrying large baskets and buckets, some held fish, some held meat, others held vegetables. Some men carried sacks full of potatoes, mostly following the women’s lead towards stalls where they’d either give the food to a seller or they’d begin to set up their own shop. Houses and shops were built with stone, and had color added to them with flags made of fabrics and dyes that Ten was positive came from his home. Even though it was drizzling, people seemed to be in great spirits. Haechan and Mark turned to each other, giddy with excitement as they looked around at the unfamiliar streets full of unfamiliar faces. 

They made their way through the town’s main street towards the castle gates. Doyoung hopped off the carriage, carrying himself with confidence.

“I hoped I’d find you here,” he told one of the guards who dropped his spear in surprise.

“Your Highness!” the man curtsied. “I am so glad to see you are safe! But… Rolham…”

“Rolham is perfectly fine,” Doyoung assured him, “the mountain dormant as it should be.”

“Bless the gods,” the man looked up at the sky with a soft smile. “I wish you had made it here yesterday, though… the royal court left yesterday for a diplomatic visit… I am afraid the castle grounds are out of bounds until they come back.”

“I see,” Doyoung whispered. He had not noticed that he was now in the company of Johnny, Taeyong, Mark, and Haechan. He turned around with a soft smile.

“I guess we can’t stay in the castle tonight,” Doyoung sighed. “I apologize.”

“It’s not your fault,” Johnny smiled. “We passed a rather large inn on our way up here. We should go back.”

“There is an area behind the inn where you can leave your horses and carriages,” the guard replied. 

“Thank you,” Doyoung said sincerely. “Please, as much as you can, let our people know; Rolham is safe and they should make it back if they wish so.”

“I will try my best to spread the good news… I myself won’t leave until the court is back. I would like to offer them my most sincere thanks for allowing me to work as their guard while we stayed here.”

“That is a great idea,” Doyoung smiled. “I will not be heading back to Rolham any time soon, though. But you know the drill.” With that, Doyoung turned around and headed towards the carriage which Mark and Haechan had travelled in. He waited for everyone to come back and figured they’d explain everyone else. He just felt grateful that, soon, he’d be able to lay down in a bed.

They stopped in front of the inn, which housed a tavern on its first floor. 

Doyoung left his spot first and headed inside. Jaehyun followed him, but everyone else remained in the carriages. 

The owner stood behind the wooden counter, he cleaned a cup with a rag. He recognized Doyoung as the royal had traveled to Eldeleigh quite a few times. After explaining their situation, the owner was able to provide them with a few rooms. They drove their carriages to the back of the building and began unpacking. 

Johnny and Ten didn’t need to request a room just for them before everyone had agreed they should have their own room. They smiled as they closed the door while everyone else sighed in relief; the idea of sharing a room with them sounded like the worst.

Mark, Haechan, and Jaehyun found themselves sharing a second room and, to Taeyong’s utter disgust, he had to share his room with Yuta and Doyoung. The feeling was back in his stomach, he felt sick. He suddenly wondered if anyone would notice if he ran outside to find a good place to throw up.

He held on as they walked into the room. There were two small beds, he honestly doubted two people could fit in one. He didn’t raise his concerns as the other two silently placed their things close to each of the beds. He dropped his shoulders in relief. A knock on the door startled them and Johnny’s voice came from the other side, announcing they were going downstairs for dinner. Doyoung left the room to follow them while Yuta carefully laid down.

“I think I’ll stay up here,” Yuta said softly.

“What, why? You have to eat,” Taeyong questioned.

“It hurts,” Yuta said pointing at his ribs. Taeyong nodded.

“I see.”

“You should go, though,” Yuta said but before he could finish his statement, Taeyong was already out the door. Smiling brightly through the pain, Yuta stared at the ceiling and dropped one of his arms over his forehead. He was exhausted but couldn’t fall asleep. He heard movement outside the door and figured everyone was on their way to have some food. He wondered if he still had some bread or something in his bags but decided against checking when a piercing pain shot through his side.

He didn’t know how long it had been, but he was sure it wasn’t long enough, when he saw Taeyong struggle to open the door while holding a tray with a couple of bowls with what Yuta assumed was soup and plates full of potatoes and vegetables.

“You have to eat, if you want to heal,” Taeyong said seriously as he walked towards the bed. He carefully placed the tray and walked around to help Yuta sit. Yuta smiled.

“I have to be honest, my arms started to hurt a lot when you left.”

“Oh,” Taeyong replied. He bit his lip and grabbed one of the bowls, “If you eat fast enough, I’ll be able to eat mine before it gets cold.” Yuta nodded. Taeyong dipped a wooden spoon on the bowl and then proceeded to blow it off so it’d cool down. He softly brought it up to Yuta’s lips, trying his hardest to not stare for too long as Yuta opened his mouth and let his tongue out just a bit before slurping off the soup from the spoon. Two more spoonfuls later, Taeyong noticed there was some of it dripping down Yuta’s lips down to his neck and shirt. Surely he’d hate to smell like soup, so Taeyong placed the bowl on the floor while he went and grabbed a rag from his bags. He once again sat on the bed and leaned closer to clean Yuta’s lips and chin, hoping he wouldn’t notice his hands trembling. He had no idea why his hands were trembling anyway but he began to dry off Yuta’s face. “Sorry,” Taeyong whispered.

Yuta grabbed Taeyong by his wrist before he had a chance to retreat. They stared into each other’s eyes for what seemed hours to Taeyong. Yuta opened his mouth as if he was going to speak but words were never heard. Instead, he tried his best to keep it together as he leaned forward, placing light pressure on his ribs, and used his other hand to bring Taeyong’s face closer. 

Taeyong wouldn’t know that Yuta’s mind kept repeating a mantra over and over as he slowly brought him forward. A mantra became a promise sealed with a soft kiss from which Taeyong felt himself melt away into Yuta’s touch.

_ I will be yours if you’ll have me, please have me _


	18. Chapter 18

Taeyong blushed furiously for a couple of reasons: number one, he hated running away from any sort of situation, he was usually the one who resolved any dilemma but, his second reason for the scarlet in his cheeks burning him from inside out made him wish he had never been born; the whiny gasp that left his lips when Yuta pulled away was embarrassing and, quite frankly, a noise he didn’t know a human being could make. If any god was listening to him as he frantically ran out of the inn towards the back of the building where he was finally able to throw up to his heart’s content, he hoped they’d give him courage to face Yuta again. What was he supposed to do? Had he offended him by dropping the rag on his unfinished bowl of soup and running off, knowing Yuta would not be able to run after him? Would he hate him now? What did it mean?

Yuta remained in place, his smile unwavering as he grabbed Taeyong’s bowl from the tray and took a few sips. He then grabbed a piece of bread and took a bite before deciding he had to be on the move. For days Yuta had wished he could drop the group and go off on his own. After all, getting attached to people was something he avoided at all costs much less getting overly attached to one person. But he’d be lying to himself if he didn’t admit that he found Taeyong endearing when he was flustered, fascinating when he spoke about a subject he knew lots about, charming when he took care of him… sometimes Yuta wished they didn’t need to sleep at all so he could hear Taeyong’s voice all the time. And nothing made him more fearful of a future without Taeyong than having Doyoung join them in their quest.

After a few minutes, Yuta carefully brought himself up and left the bed. His side hurt a bit less and he slowly walked towards the door, pleased that he didn’t need to hold on to keep the pain away. He walked through the hallway and made it downstairs where he saw everyone else, rather, everyone else except Taeyong. He hoped nobody would notice as he sneaked out of the inn. The Sun had set but, thankfully, people still had errands to run and torches and lamps illuminated the street. He looked around but saw no signs of Taeyong… he trusted his instinct then and began to walk towards the back of the building. He was relieved that he was right as he saw Taeyong sitting on a wooden bench next to their horses, absentmindedly caressing one of the horse’s legs. He stared off into the distance so he didn’t notice immediately when Yuta sat next to him.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to run away when somebody kisses you, if you like them that is,” Yuta chuckled. Taeyong sighed.

“Please, I’m sorry… I have no idea how this works.”

“Well if you had stayed I could’ve told you, or shown you.” Taeyong turned to face Yuta, expectant. Yuta smiled widely and looked up, “Okay. Had you stayed, you would’ve seen that I had the brightest smile. I would’ve asked you if you were okay. And I know you would’ve been shocked, so I would’ve made sure you were okay. And when you asked me what was that about, I’d tell you that I broke my biggest life rule for a chance to stare into your eyes for the rest of my life, that I gave up on self control in the hopes this wasn’t one sided and then, if you’d let me, I would’ve kissed you again.”

“What do I do with that?” Taeyong wondered out loud.

“Whatever you want,” Yuta replied. 

“I hope you didn’t think I hated it,” Taeyong lowered his gaze. Yuta shook his head.

“No,” Yuta placed his hand on Taeyong’s which was resting on his thigh and gave it a reassuring squeeze, “it was kind of what I realistically expected.”

“I am a mess,” Taeyong sighed, flustered. Yuta chuckled.

“You are my mess… if you want to,” he immediately added. Taeyong looked at him, grateful it was too dark for Yuta to notice his scarlet cheeks.

“Yours,” Taeyong whispered. “Why do I want to say yes?” 

Yuta’s eyes widened. Was Taeyong really this oblivious? “Taeyong… have you ever been in love before?”

“No,” Taeyong replied quickly. 

“Ah.”

“Why?”

“Because  _ that  _ would be a reason why you want to say yes,” Yuta explained. 

“Oh,” Taeyong mumbled. “So… will you kiss me again?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Yuta joked as he grabbed Taeyong’s face and softly pulled him closer. This time, Yuta playfully nibbled Taeyong’s lower lip, proud of the soft moan he earned in return. Music to his ears. He had never been more sure Taeyong was worth giving up the way he had lived his life until then.

* * *

When morning arrived, Ten knew he had about another hour before Johnny could be considered awake. He grabbed a pair of trousers and a white silk shirt. He left the top buttons open and didn’t bother to do anything with the strings. He ran his fingers through his hair as he walked out of the room towards the tavern downstairs. The place was empty besides the owner behind the counter. He asked for two portions of breakfast that he could take upstairs. Food helped bring Johnny back to the world of the awakened.

While he waited, Ten felt a weird knot in his stomach. His hands were shaking but he figured it was lack of food. He’d be better when he ate, he hoped. He turned around and caught a glimpse of a fancy carriage driving by towards the castle grounds. He saw Doyoung standing by a window, yawning.

“That was a short diplomatic trip,” Doyoung yawned once again while standing next to Ten.

“It was, wasn’t it…” Ten tried to make small talk but he felt faint. Doyoung noticed his face becoming paler every second that passed.

“Unless it wasn’t a diplomatic trip,” Doyoung winked at him. Ten looked at him confused. “Your stomach hurts, doesn’t it?”

“How did you know?”

“You felt  _ him, _ ” Doyoung answered. His reply was extremely unhelpful to Ten. “You’ll see… I will actually head to the castle real quick. I’ll come back for you all once everyone is awake.” Without giving Ten a chance to question him, Doyoung left the tavern.

“Strange,” Ten mumbled and realized he felt better. He grabbed his food and walked upstairs, fondly smiling at Johnny who was slowly turning around on the bed, fighting to stay asleep for a bit longer. He placed the tray on a chair in the corner of the room by the window and walked over to the bed. He sat and began to trace lines with his fingers, up and down Johnny’s arm.

“It’s time to wake up,” Ten whispered sweetly, leaning closer to Johnny’s face. He was given a groan as a response. Ten smiled and placed a kiss on Johnny’s cheek. “I brought food.”

“You are the food,” Johnny grumbled. Ten was unsure what to make out of the comment so he decided to roll his eyes.

“Okay, Johnny,” Ten placed another kiss on his cheek and turned to grab his plate. He began to eat standing by the window. He could see people beginning to open the windows of their homes and shops, kids starting to gather around to go play, he even noticed some dogs walking around curiously. The sky was clear and it didn’t seem this would change anytime soon. It was, however, extremely windy but it didn’t seem to bother anyone. 

Ten felt the burning gaze of his boyfriend on his back. 

“Good morning,” Ten said, without turning around. He heard a low mumble and couldn’t discern the words. “You should eat. It seems we might be able to go to the palace today, after all.” He heard the shuffling in the bed, and the slow steps towards him. Hugging him from behind, Johnny placed his face on the crook of Ten’s neck. Ten grabbed a piece of his bread and gave it to him.

About an hour after, and with Johnny fully awake, they went downstairs where they met with everyone else. Ten explained that Doyoung would be back for them. In the meantime. Everyone else ate.

“Do we know anything about them?” Jaehyun wondered, looking between Taeyong and Haechan. Taeyong looked like he was in deep thought but Haechan smiled excitedly as he nodded enthusiastically.

“I do, I do! From what I know, there’s three princes, and they’re all…” Haechan looked down. 

“They’re all what?” Mark questioned.

“Um,” Haechan looked at him. He then looked around and sighed. He leaned into the table, making everyone else lean in too, “they all have different mothers. And none of them were the late Queen. Some say that they are the reason she couldn’t take it anymore… especially the youngest.”

“Why would he be the last straw?” Johnny asked.

“Well, the other two were born in the same year. So I’m guessing she probably thought they would be it. But after two years of the King being faithful, he gave in again. He had promised her he’d give her a child to bear herself, but it never happened. Instead, he had his third son. What was worse, for her at least, was that he brought the three women and their children to live in the castle. Her wish was that they would carry their grandfathers’ family names instead of her husband’s. But everybody knew. And when the King got sick after she died, he had to make sure everyone respected the kids as princes. He did something unthinkable and left them to decide who would be heir by themselves. So, the middle child is the heir.”

“How do you know all of this stuff?” Mark asked in awe. Haechan blushed.

“You’re such a gossiper,” Johnny joked.

“Like my father and his father before him!” Haechan protested. “But that’s not all,” Haechan continued. “A few years ago, their cousin’s family lost it all. We’re unsure of how it happened, but their cousin lives with them too.”

Doyoung walked into the tavern with a wide smile. “It’s time!” Fueled by their curiosity over Haechan’s story, everyone quickly gathered by the door, ready to follow Doyoung. “The princes are back and excited to meet you all.”

“Did they say why their trip was cut short?” Ten asked. Doyoung winked at him, earning a piercing stare from Johnny. He gulped.

“They are all very nice boys,” Doyoung nervously continued, ignoring Ten’s question and Johnny’s eyes, “their cousin is living with them too, and he is so fun to be around. Definitely brings cheer to the palace.”

They made it to the gates where the guards were already aware of their arrival. The group were led to the main doors and into the main hall where they were asked to stay in for a moment. The palace was built from stone and most of the inside decor had silver in it. Blue hues accompanied the scheme, with rugs and panels on the walls that looked like the sky. In front of them was a large hallway and they could see some doors. At the end of the hallway were two entrances on each side, each had its own set of stairs to which they could reach different parts of the castle. When one of the guards came back for them, they followed him through the hallway but never made it to the end, instead, they stopped at the second door on the left. Inside was a grand room with its windows open, the wind softly playing with the light blue curtains. They walked over a blue carpet that led them to a platform made of silver. As if it was directly coming up from the floor, a large silver throne with three large sapphires on its highest point sat on the top of the platform and, next to it, two smaller but similar chairs each with a large round sapphire. On each chair sat three men, though their youthful looks took most of the group aback. Had they seen them around they would have thought they were children but they were to learn soon that this wasn’t far from the truth. A fourth man stood behind the largest throne, and in between it and the one in the left corner. The four of them smiled brightly at the newcomers. The one in the middle cleared his throat.

“We’ve been waiting! We heard a bit from Doyoung this morning… welcome! I’m guessing you could take charge of the introductions, right, Doyoung?”

Doyoung nodded and walked forward. He stood between the platform and the group. He quickly introduced everybody in his group. Taeyong felt a sudden pang of what he now figured was jealousy when Doyoung’s eyes took longer to move away from Yuta. Not only that, but the four men on the platform also stared at Yuta and Taeyong instinctively grabbed Yuta’s arms earning a smile and one of Yuta’s hands was placed on his. 

“So, everyone. I would like to introduce you to his Royal Highnesses… Park Jisung,” he pointed at the boy in the farthest right who gave them a small wave, “Hwang Renjun,” he pointed at the left, “and Na Jaemin,” he pointed at the main throne. 

“Nana,” the fourth interjected.

“They just met me, can we at least have a conversation with them without you bringing that up?” Jaemin said blushing. 

“No.” The man walked down the platform with a wide grin, “I am Wong Yukhei, but you can call me Lucas.” 

“So, which one of you is it?” Jaemin questioned. “It’s so strong, I felt it when you guys were still days away…” Everyone looked confused but turned around to stare at Ten. “Yeah, you are the blessed one aren’t you?” Ten nodded. “I’m guessing you felt me too,” Jaemin sighed. “Sorry if I made your stomach upset.” Ten’s eyes widened as he remembered the uncomfortable sensation earlier at the tavern. “Don’t worry, at some point you get used to it and can control it. You can also control others sensing you. Which I am still working on, to be honest.”

“You’re a blessed one?” Ten asked in awe. 

“Actually,” Renjun interjected, “we all are.”

“Yes, that includes me,” Lucas winked. 

“Air,” Jaemin said with a soft smile. 

“I am a healer,” Renjun explained.

“I am good with animals, I can understand them and request them to do things for me,” Jisung smiled excitedly. He grabbed something from inside his cloak and revealed a small hamster on his palm. 

“Aww, it’s so cute!” Johnny screeched excitedly.

“I’ll let you hold him later,” Jisung offered.

“And mine is earth,” Lucas said when he noticed Ten staring at him expectant. “I can help basically anything grow wherever we want. I can switch the composition of the ground we stand on.”

“He can also build up mountains,” Jaemin added. “Which he tends to leave out but it’s incredible.”

“That is amazing,” Ten said.

“We are still learning things ourselves,” Jaemin explained, “but Doyoung gave us a quick rundown of what was going on and we might be able to help a bit. There is a secluded area away from here where we can all go tomorrow to start. We’d go today but… we just got back.”

“So it wasn’t a diplomatic visit?” Mark asked.

“No,” Jaemin smiled, “we were practicing. It is a perfect spot, and it’ll help you too. You’ll see,” he continued, staring at Ten. 

“We don’t want to be a bother,” Ten said sheepishly.

“Not at all!” Jisung exclaimed.

“It’ll be our honor,” Renjun added.

“To help the first and only blessed by the god of water?” Jaemin stood and walked to Ten. He grabbed his hands. “I know how intense and difficult controlling it can be. Again, we are not experts on our own powers, but it doesn’t mean we won’t do our best to help.”

“Thank you,” Ten whispered.

“If it feels like it’s the end of the world and your life, push that feeling aside,” Jaemin responded. “It will feel like a curse if you don’t believe it’s a blessing. And that’s not what the gods intended."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for giving me and my story a chance! Hope you enjoy. Bookmark so you never miss an update! And if you have Twitter, follow me @ changaroo_97. Lots of fangirling but story updates in there too!  
> Let me know if you're there because of my story ❤️


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